The Lagos State All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Dr Kadri Hamzat, has unveiled a 100-point manifesto, promising to expand public transportation, build new hospitals, provide affordable housing and create more jobs if elected governor in 2027.

Hamzat, the incumbent deputy governor, who is seeking to succeed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, made the pledges on Friday while unveiling his manifesto, tagged The Lagos Promise (Ileri Eko), at an event held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, Lagos.

The manifesto, anchored on seven pillars, outlines plans to improve transportation, healthcare, education, housing, security, job creation and government accountability.

Under his transportation plan, Hamzat promised to increase the state’s public bus fleet from 1,000 to 4,000, with a target of transporting one million passengers daily.

“I will grow the public bus fleet from one thousand buses to four thousand, so our buses can carry one million passengers every day,” he said.

He also pledged to extend the Blue Line rail project to Okokomaiko, connect the Blue and Red lines through an interchange at the National Theatre Station and advance the Green Line from Marina to the Lekki Free Trade Zone in partnership with the Federal Government.

On water transportation, he promised to dredge an additional 140 kilometres of waterways, optimise 15 ferry routes, refurbish 25 terminals and jetties, and procure 75 additional electric vessels under the Omi Eko project.

“Lagos is a water state. The lagoon must be our third highway,” Hamzat said.

He added that his administration would work towards integrating road, rail and water transportation through a unified ticketing and timetable system.

On healthcare, the deputy governor promised to increase the number of Maternal and Child Centres from 10 to 15 and expand the coverage of the state’s Ilera Eko health insurance scheme from nearly two million beneficiaries to one in three Lagos residents.

“I will take the Maternal and Child Centres into the communities that have waited longest for them. We currently have 10; I will increase it to 15,” he said.

He also pledged to upgrade 100 primary healthcare centres to flagship status and build two new general hospitals in Ogombo and Ibeju-Lekki.

According to him, the proposed projects would complement ongoing hospital developments, including the 150-bed Massey Children’s Hospital, the 280-bed Ojo General Hospital and the 150-bed Somolu General Hospital, which would collectively provide 580 additional beds.

Hamzat also promised to recruit more doctors, nurses and midwives and improve their working conditions to discourage health professionals from leaving the state.

On education, he pledged to strengthen the EKOEXCEL programme, which currently operates in 1,028 public primary schools, while improving teacher training and reviewing teachers’ compensation packages.

“Every child in Lagos belongs in school. I will bring every one of them in, and keep them there,” he said.

He also promised to expand digital learning opportunities and pursue plans to establish a University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

On job creation, Hamzat said his administration would support small businesses, expand vocational training and improve access to credit.

He disclosed that the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund had provided more than N15bn to over 21,000 businesses, while its interventions had reached more than 116,000 businesses through training, advisory services and mentorship.

He added that businesses supported by the fund had created more than 300,000 jobs, while nearly 15,000 young people had been placed in employment through its programmes.

Hamzat promised to publish a single schedule of lawful government charges to protect businesses from multiple levies and ensure that a defined share of state procurement went to qualified small businesses.

“A defined share of state procurement will go to Lagos small businesses that meet the standard,” he said.

He also pledged to introduce a scheme under which students in vocational and technical schools would spend between six and 12 months with employers, with the state paying 40 per cent of their stipends.

On housing, the APC candidate promised to complete several ongoing housing projects across the state, deepen the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme and introduce more affordable mortgage arrangements.

“I will make mortgages reachable. Ten per cent down. Single-digit interest. Longer repayment periods,” he said.

On security, Hamzat promised to strengthen the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency and extend its presence to all 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas.

He also pledged to expand street lighting and CCTV coverage, establish a State Intelligence Fusion Centre to tackle cybercrime, financial crimes and organised criminal activities, and improve the welfare of security personnel.

The manifesto also contains plans to increase water supply through the completion of the 70-million-gallon-per-day Adiyan Phase Two waterworks, rehabilitate 24 micro and mini waterworks, and expand waste collection coverage to 95 per cent.

Hamzat further promised to establish a Child Protection and Nutrition Agency within his first 100 days in office through legislation, alongside a Lagos State Service Delivery Office to monitor the implementation of his campaign promises.

He said 87 of the 100 pledges in the manifesto were firm commitments that would be measured against published performance targets, while the remaining 13 were aspirations whose implementation would depend on consultations, Federal Government partnerships or judicial decisions.

“Eighty-seven are firm commitments. They are within the Lagos State Government’s power, and each will be measured against a published scorecard. If one of them is not delivered, it will be noted, and I must own it,” he said.

He added that an independent Performance Council would review the government’s performance, while an annual report would compare its promises with actual achievements and explain any missed targets.

Hamzat said residents would also be able to monitor the government’s performance through service charters and a complaints mechanism.

“Every complaint will be acknowledged within forty-eight hours, answered within seven days and resolved within thirty,” he said.

The candidate said the manifesto was built around seven pillars: People First, Renewal, Opportunity, Machinery of Government, Inclusion, Security and Resilience, and Everyday Dignity.

Describing the manifesto as a binding commitment to Lagos residents, Hamzat said, “A PROMISE is a debt,” adding that the document contained specific commitments citizens could monitor and use to hold him accountable.

He said his vision would build on the achievements of previous administrations, including those of former governors Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode, as well as the incumbent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, under whom he has served as deputy governor since 2019.

Sanwo-Olu backs Hamzat

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has endorsed his deputy as his preferred successor, declaring that the state cannot afford to experiment with a new leadership direction ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

Sanwo-Olu, who spoke on Wednesday at the unveiling of Hamzat’s governorship manifesto in Lagos, described his deputy as an experienced administrator who had been involved in the development and governance of the state for more than two decades.

The governor said Hamzat had demonstrated loyalty, competence and commitment to public service, recalling that he stepped down for him in the 2018 governorship race following the intervention of leaders of the All Progressives Congress.

According to Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat had initially sought the governorship ticket but agreed to withdraw and become his running mate after party leaders asked him to step aside.

“I have thought about what it costs a man to put down the thing he wants most, in public, at the request of people he respects, for the benefit of someone else. Many men would have done it and nursed the wound. Some would have done it and plotted. Femi Hamzat did it, shook my hand, and five weeks later agreed to run beside me,” he said.

The governor said his experience working with Hamzat over the past seven years had convinced him of his capacity to lead the state, adding that the deputy governor had remained loyal and contributed significantly to the administration.

“In seven years, there has not been one day, not one, when I had to wonder whose side my deputy was on,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He described Hamzat as a technocrat with extensive experience in governance, noting that he had served under three governors, occupied two major ministries and spent seven years as deputy governor.

Sanwo-Olu recalled that Hamzat, as Commissioner for Science and Technology under former Governor Bola Tinubu, helped computerise government operations, remove ghost workers from the state payroll and lay the foundation for the registration of Lagos residents.

He also credited him with overseeing road projects as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure under former Governor Babatunde Fashola, including the construction of the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge.

The governor argued that Hamzat’s experience made him better positioned to sustain the state’s development programmes, particularly major infrastructure projects that cut across successive administrations.

He listed the second phases of the Blue and Red rail lines, the Fourth Mainland Bridge, the proposed Lekki-Epe International Airport, the Omu Creek project, food hubs and logistics parks among the projects requiring continuity.

“This is not the time to experiment with Lagos. This is the time to consolidate,” Sanwo-Olu declared.

He, however, explained that consolidation did not mean repeating existing policies but completing ongoing projects, addressing shortcomings and initiating new programmes.

“Continuity does not mean repeating ourselves. It means finishing what was started, fixing what is not working, and starting what comes next, in that order, with a plan,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu also described the planned succession as an opportunity for Lagos to demonstrate political stability, saying he was proud that his administration would hand over power without a disagreement between the governor and his deputy.

“It is this. Lagos is going to change governors without a quarrel,” he said.

He urged Hamzat to sustain ongoing projects, remain attentive to residents’ concerns and ensure that programmes initiated by successive administrations were not abandoned.