The Lagos State All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Mr. Jimi Agbaje and six other candidates of various political parties on Thursday participated in a debate organised by the Diocese of Lagos-West Anglican Communion.

Ambode and Agbaje, who are the two leading candidates, disagreed on various issues such as education, security, employment, housing and economy.

In the area of housing, Agbaje maintained that 70 per cent of Lagos was a slum due to deficit in housing units. He said due to the scarcity of land it would be wise to build storey buildings instead of bungalows so that more people could be accommodated.

He said Lagos State was one of the worst places to do business in Nigeria because it was the hardest city to get a construction permit.

In education, Agbaje said the current budget was faulty as only three per cent was dedicated to primary education.

He said the state had a leadership problem due to “vested interest,” promising an equitable distribution of wealth if elected into office.

He said, “All we do with the education budget is to pay salaries and overheads. There is no way that education is going to change. The education of today is not for the factory but for innovation. I tell the younger ones that those who have changed the world have done so not with university education but from the basic education that they received at the primary and secondary levels but today we have a situation where (out) of our budget, this government spends three per cent on primary education.”

But Ambode said the budget figures given by Agbaje were not true as more was being spent on education.

In the area of housing, Ambode promised to create more housing units through Public Private Partnership.

He said the fall in world oil prices would not affect the state due to the Internally Generated Revenue which stood at over N20bn per month.

He said his government would ensure improved security through technology such as CCTV and other monitoring devices.

Ambode also promised to provide electronic tablets and free meals to all public school students in the state if elected.

He said, “In the last 16 years, the party at the centre has been unable to diversify the economy of this country, making it crude oil dependent. But what we have in Lagos in the last 16 years is that we have been able to diversify the economy to be able to generate from N600m in 1999 to what we have today which is over N20bn.

“Two-thirds of Lagos income is through Internally Generated Revenue. So we are the only state that is fully independent (of the effects) of fall in oil prices. It is not that the Federal Government does not have the resources but what we have seen is the inefficient management of resources and that is why the shortfall in prices will affect other states but Lagos State can cushion that effect because we always expected a day like this.

“There are eight million Lagosians that are supposed to be in the tax net. What we have now is four million. That means that four million are avoiding taxes. So, how we can increase revenue is by ensuring that we get more creative and get the taxes.”

However, Agbaje said, “We spent little or nothing on primary education and that is the problem because once you lack that foundation, you will build on nothing. We believe it is time to rejig those figures and give our children the foundation that is required rather than a situation where you are spending money on a people that are already handicapped.

 “You talk about housing because Lagos today, going by reports, is 70 per cent slum. And when I say slum, you understand what I mean and that is because we have not got our housing right. Lagos needs over 200,000 units every year. Lagos State by its own admission, from 1999 till date has built about 25,000 units.”