The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Babatunde Gbadamosi, has vowed to replace all private and public transport vehicles in the state with electric ones.
The real estate developer made the promise while speaking at a governorship debate organised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Yoruba News Service on Saturday, January 26, 2019.
When quizzed on what he would do to solve the problem of environmental pollution in the state, Gbadamosi blamed generator fumes and fumes from the exhaust pipes of vehicles on Lagos roads.
To solve the problem if elected governor, he said he would fix the electricity situation to lessen the use of generators and replace all the vehicles in the state with electric ones.
He said, "There are two to three ways that we'll approach solving the problem. Firstly, there's something we call the Lagos Integrated Regeneration Plan, we'll fix electricity in eight local government areas in Lagos very quickly in 16 months. That'll reduce the problem of generator fumes in eight LGAs.
"Secondly, all public transport buses and private ones will be replaced with electric buses."
Other governorship candidates present at the debate were Olumuyiwa Fafowora of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Omolara Adesanya of the Providence People's Congress (PPC), and Adebisi Ogunsanya of the Young Progressive Party (YPP).
While also speaking on pollution in Lagos, Adesanya blamed manufacturing companies for recklessly disposing waste into the environment.
"If they don't follow our environmental laws, it'll constitute a criminal offence. They must obey our laws," she said.
Ogunsanya blamed environmental pollution on negligent waste management and also vowed to make laws to seize cars that pollute the environment.
While all the four candidates vowed to reform waste management in the state, Gbadamosi and Ogunsanya promised to assign the task to the local governments and also recycle waste.
Fafowora vowed to employ 50,000 youths into the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), and also promised to use incinerators to burn waste and power the state to solve the problem of epileptic electricity supply.
Adesanya said, if elected, her administration would educate Lagosians on proper waste management in public and make laws to ensure transport vehicles have waste bins.
The candidates also all vowed to make the books of the Lagos State government transparent and accessible for all to know how the government is spending tax payers' money.
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jimi Agbaje, were notably absent at Saturday's debate even though they were scheduled to appear.
The Lagos governorship election will take place on March 2, 2019, with Sanwo-Olu and Agbaje considered favourites to win the coveted seat to head Nigeria's economic capital.