by Rachel Ogbu

In a recent statement signed by the state commissioner for information, Lateef Ibirogba, the Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola has expressed great pity for the Information Minister, Labaran Maku saying the minister was losing his sense of judgment.

According to reports; Fashola was reacting to Maku’s comment at a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Monday that the Lagos governor had not achieved anything in office. Maku had claimed that the Lagos government had not done anything in the state apart from sanitation.

[READ: “Lagos State is running on federal infrastructure”: Laban Makun comes out swinging at the launch of the 2nd Ministerial Platform ]

Fashola’s statement reads in part:

“We read with a sense of pity the story credited to the Hon. Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, denying the verifiable achievements of His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, the Governor of Lagos State.

“On one hand we feel great pity that Mr. Maku has within a short time lost touch with the ethics of Journalism which emphasizes accuracy, objectivity and facts. On the other hand, we pity the country if the man with the status of Hon. Minister of Information can descend so low as to misinform the world with such impunity.

“Although his reason for such inflammatory remarks is still hard to discern, he would have done himself and the nation much good by limiting himself to his brief rather than dabbling into issues he knows next to nothing about.

“In an assignment such as Ministerial briefing, as Lagos State had just done while marking the 6th anniversary of His Excellency, all Maku would have done in his remarks was to concentrate more on the achievements of the Federal government if there is any and if there was nothing to report ( as is clear from his vituperation) he could still have done himself a world of good by keeping quiet (as journalism dictates) than exposing himself to such ridicule through the unguarded statement credited to him.