Jimi Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos state, has replied the governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola’s tax claims, calling him a liar.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Agbaje said it was time to clear the air over the “repeated blunder” committed by the incumbent.
“The Honourable Governor B.R. Fashola (SAN) has lied again and I think it’s time to address his repeated blunder,” the statement read in part.
“With regards to my taxes, there is no truth in this latest piece of misinformation that the honourable governor has been peddling.
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“Following the repudiation of his initial allegations about JAYKAY PHARMACEUTICALS unpaid taxes, he has lied again, giving the impression that my company has gone to pay money supposedly owed to the government.”
Earlier, Fashola said the PDP flag bearer was a tax evader, but Agbaje came out to debunk the position of the governor, saying he was paying his tax as expected, and presenting a commendation letter from the tax office.
The state government, however, insisted that he had not paid necessary tax to the tune of N1,692,064.62, after which the governor himself claimed the PDP candidate only paid N500,000 of the pending N1.6 million.
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In response to the governor’s latest claim, Agbaje said: “JayKay Pharmaceuticals has not paid a kobo since the day the Honourable Governor launched his initial attack.
“We stick to the facts contained in our initial publication, which encapsulated the company’s reaction to the governor’s initial falsehood. To now insinuate that I have gone behind the curtains to pay N500,000 is clearly political silly season – for lack of a better phrase – and quite frankly, beneath your person.
“It’s understandable that we’ve both had our differences in the course of this election season, but when the honorable governor goes about launching unbridled, flat-out-false attacks at me about something as important as taxes, you leave me no choice but to call you out, sir.
“When I got into this race, I decided to make it about the issues. My opponents? Not so much. They talked about me being inexperienced and at some point they said I was ‘too old to govern’ and we responded with BOLD IDEAS intended to put Lagos on a new trajectory – one that is NOT based on Jagaban’s tax-and-spend economics.”
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With respect to corruption, the 57-year-old added that Fashola was yet to challenge anyone for corruption at the state level.
“Or is he saying Lagos is 100 percent corruption-free? Yet, he goes about castigating the federal government.
“He should walk his talk and lead by example – expose and prosecute high-ranking corrupt officials in his government and the state civil service. The corruption in the Lekki Toll Plaza will be made public in due cause.”
Agbaje, who said Lagosians deserve better, maintained that he would not be drawn into badmouthing others, but would continue sticking with issue-based campaign.
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