Lagos Candidates Outline Rival Plans at Governorship Debate

Four Lagos governorship candidates presented competing proposals on housing, transport and public services at a debate ahead of the February 6, 2027, election, outlining plans that have not yet been implemented.

Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, the All Progressives Congress candidate, proposed increasing the state’s bus fleet from about 1,000 to 4,000, mostly using compressed natural gas, with a target of about one million passenger trips a day. He also advocated connecting bus, rail and water transport through a single payment system and expanding bus rapid transit routes.

African Democratic Congress candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour called for rail expansion, more ferry services and accessible terminals, cable cars, bicycle lanes and shorter bridges. He said infrastructure finance companies could fund rail construction, with projects repaid over 30 years. Hamzat argued that government must first invest in rail infrastructure, saying no subnational government in Africa had built a rail network entirely with private financing. The candidates’ disagreement over whether private funding could carry the cost without substantial government investment remained unresolved in their debate...