The 2027 Lagos State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obafemi Hamzat, has stated that public trust was broken following the October 20, 2020 incident at the Lekki Toll Gate during the #EndSARS protests.
Naija News reports that Hamzat spoke during the Lagos governorship debate organised by TVC News in partnership with Channels Television, Punch, Vanguard and TheCable newspapers
The APC candidate, who was deputy governor at the time, described the incident as a sad day in Lagos.
“October, it was a sad day in Lagos. Very sad,” he said.
Responding to a question about what he personally knew of the security decisions taken on the night of October 20, 2020, when soldiers were deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate during the #EndSARS protests, Hamzat acknowledged that he was part of the administration at the time and said he was in the room.
“And I will not stand here and say I wasn’t in the room,” he said.
He however noted that the military was under the control of the Federal Government, arguing that the Lagos State Government did not exercise direct authority over it.
“Everybody knows that the military is a function of federal government,” he said.
He also pointed to the judicial commission of inquiry established by the Lagos State Government, saying it was funded and independent, with members he described as critical of the government.
“Remember, Lagos State set up a judicial commission, funded, independent, putting people that are actually against government in there to find the truth. And they did their report,” Hamzat said.
He added that the commission’s report was made public and that the state government subsequently issued a white paper, which he said implemented many of the panel’s recommendations.
“The report is public. So they have their report. Lagos State government also did a white paper implementing a lot of those decisions,” he said.
Hamzat maintained that residents had the right to protest, adding that the state government had acted by setting up the panel to examine the incident.
“So we believe that people have the right to protest. And that’s why we actually follow the judicial commission,” he said.
The APC candidate, however, acknowledged the pain suffered by residents and the loss of public trust following the incident.
“We never, never rub over the pain of citizens. The wrong thing, trust was broken. But Lagos State did the right thing, set up the panel,” Hamzat said.
