The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2027 Lagos State election, Obafemi Hamzat, has admitted that public trust was broken following the October 20, 2020 incident at the Lekki Toll Gate during the #EndSARS protests.
Hamzat, who served as Lagos State Deputy Governor at the time, described the incident as a painful moment in the state’s history, acknowledging the suffering of residents and the damage it caused to public confidence in the government.
He made the remarks during a Lagos governorship debate organised by TVC News in partnership with Channels Television, Punch, Vanguard and TheCable newspapers.
Speaking about the events of October 20, 2020, when soldiers were deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate amid the #EndSARS protests, Hamzat admitted that he was part of the administration and was present when discussions surrounding the incident took place.
“October, it was a sad day in Lagos. Very sad,” he said.
When asked what he personally knew about the security decisions taken on the night of the incident, the APC candidate insisted that he would not deny his involvement in the administration at the time.
“And I will not stand here and say I wasn’t in the room,” he stated.
However, Hamzat argued that the military operated under the authority of the Federal Government, maintaining that the Lagos State Government did not exercise direct control over its operations.
“Everybody knows that the military is a function of federal government,” he said.
The former deputy governor also defended the Lagos State Government’s response to the incident, pointing to the judicial commission of inquiry established to investigate the events at the Lekki Toll Gate.
According to him, the state government funded the commission and appointed members he described as independent individuals, including people critical of the administration, to ensure that the circumstances surrounding the incident were thoroughly examined.
“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 findings were made public and that the state government subsequently released a white paper outlining its position and implementing several 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 added.
Hamzat further maintained that Nigerians had the constitutional right to protest, insisting that the establishment of the judicial commission was part of the government’s efforts to address concerns surrounding 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 governorship candidate, however, acknowledged that the incident caused significant pain among Lagos residents and damaged the relationship of trust between the government and the people.
“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 stated.
