Hamzat made this known on Tuesday morning during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, while fielding questions surrounding violence and alleged rigging during the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

Although, the deputy governor said he was not calling for the arrest of anybody, he said the facts should be examined and “if in truth he (MC Oluomo) has broken the law, he must pay for it.”

The deputy governor was reacting to a video that made the rounds on social media during the governorship elections in the state, where MC Oluomo, who is also the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Works for Lagos State Council, was said to be threatening people of Igbo extraction residing in the state.

Hamzat said, “Well, I am not calling for the arrest of anybody, I am not a police officer, I am not a prosecutor, but people will look at the evidence.

And in the case of MC Oluomo he has actually come out to say that he was referring to a woman, who also come out to say that she has known MC Oluomo for years and that he was referring to her, so I don’t know the facts. But people should examine the facts and if in truth he has broken the law, he must pay for it.

“But my point which I want to make is that we all diminish this country when we actually exaggerate what happens. We have an election where you have this number of polling units and you have less than 1 per cent that have a problem and we now make it look like that 1 per cent is more important than the 99 per cent.

“I think that it is just outrageous and we should not diminish our country by saying the election is bad. No, this was a great election. Atrocities were committed an people should pay for that.”

Hamzat said the state government has been accommodating of all tribes and religions in the state, adding that Lagos is the only state that has other tribes in its State Assembly.

Hamzat, however, added, “There will be people that will always try to break the rules and we must punish them. When you punish them they serve as deterrent to others so they know that is not the way to go.”

At the event were Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, and the First Lady, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu.

The carol service was organised by the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Lagos State House in Ikeja.

In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, charged Christians to spread love not only during the Yuletide, but throughout the whole year, and emulate the virtues of Jesus Christ as demonstrated in his humility and service to humanity.

Elegushi said, “Today, as I warmly welcome you all to the 16th edition of the Christmas Carol of Nine Lessons, I want to encourage us to rejoice and appreciate the faithfulness of God in our lives and in Lagos State as we proceed with the programme, with the assurance that Year 2023, being an election year, will usher in more dividends of democracy to all.

“We are in celebration mode towards the Christmas and New Year celebrations, and I wish to implore us all to keep safe and be our brothers’ keeper and continue to uphold our dear country, Nigeria, in prayers.

“The theme of this year’s Christmas carol of nine lessons is: ‘A stone of grace,’ as stated in Proverbs 17:8. We are all products and recipients of God’s grace and this season teaches us to extend our hands of generosity and brotherliness towards mankind.”

Elegushi further stated that the end of the year was a period of sober reflection and a time to take stock of all activities from the beginning of the year in order to express gratitude to God for his divine intervention in the state

Hamzat who paid a visit to the scene of the incident on Tuesday said it was shut down from July to November.

He also stated that two more survivors have been rescued while the remains of 10 people have recovered from the rubble of the collapsed building.

He said the two survivors who were rescued and currently being treated at a hospital gave conflicting figures concerning the people who were inside the building before the collapse.

According to him, “This is now a search and rescue operation and our mission is to get people out of here. This morning we took out two people and they are doing well in the hospital. Totally we’ve taken nine people out and they are in the hospital and some have been discharged and we’ve sadly taken out 10 dead bodies. The operation as you can see is going on and we will not leave until we are able to account for everybody. We are responsible for the people of the state, our focus is on saving lives. As a matter of fact, this place was sealed for about four months sometime last year from July to November because our agency came in to do the structural test and saw some anomalies and shut it down and said those things should be corrected. The other two buildings will also be audited in terms of integrity test and of course, if we see anything, appropriate actions will be taken. They were making corrective actions when this happened. At the time this happened, they were not really constructing but investigations later will show what really happened. This particular building that collapsed was approved for 21 floors three years ago not 15 floors, it’s the construction that failed apparently.”

Prowess Engineering Limited, the company that began the construction of the building withdrew from the project in February 2020. The company withdrew its services on grounds that it no longer shared the same vision with its client believed to be Fourscore Heights Limited as addressed in a letter confirmed by the Managing Director, Muritala Olawale.

Prowess Engineering Limited, which had constructed two other buildings for its client, said it couldn’t guarantee the integrity of the third (collapsed building) from anything above the fourth floor.

Hamzat disclosed this in a tweet posted on his Twitter handle on Friday, October 23. The tweet also contained a link to a form that the store owners are expected to fill.

He tweeted “If you are a Lagos based business and your store got looted/vandalized this week, please fill this form by @LSETFhttps://t.co/lwPiXvFzTp. Let’s do what we can to support you,”

Hamzat who shared his experience with SARS as he addressed #EndSARS protesters at Alausa in Ikeja, stated that the security operatives do not have the right to trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens because of their unfamiliar looks or because they are carrying laptops or iPhones.

Hamzat said “Every decent Nigerian will be upset. This happened to me four years ago. I was going to Amuwo Odofin…they (SARS operatives) were not in uniform, they had guns, they just double-crossed us and said we should get out. The tenet of the police operation is to protect the citizens. Security operatives don’t have the right to trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens, because of their unfamiliar looks, or because they are carrying laptops or iPhones. It is wrong for any police officer to expressly accuse or pronounce someone, irrespective of age, guilty because they have dreads or ride luxury vehicles.  As a government, we support evidence-based investigations and actions driven by intelligence. The procedure of arrest and prosecution must be followed through. We are equally aggrieved like every other law-abiding Nigerian. If a young man or woman who is legitimately doing his or her job is attacked or maimed by police officers for no reason, we will never support that. We condemn police brutality in whatever guise and we will continue to engage their leadership for change.  We fully understand the reasons for your anger but this demonstration must also be carried out in line with the law. If we employ violence or destruction to drive home our grievances, we will also be hurting ourselves. The protest must be orderly so that those concerned will get the salient point of the message. You can’t block the road, disrupting the free flow of traffic and prevent other people from embarking on their lawful duties, especially the emergency responders. As citizens, it is within your rights to express your grievances but let us exercise caution and eschew violence. The authorities have heard your voice and I hope we all leave the roads with the understanding that drastic changes will be affected.”

Speaking on Channels TV, Obafemi said Okadas have become an avenue for perpetrating a crime. He reiterated the state government’s position that the ban is largely for security and safety reasons. ‘

He said ‘The truth of the matter is that Okada is becoming an avenue to perpetrating crimes. And we cannot wait until a major disaster happens. We knew what happened in Kano State some years back when the Emir of Kano was attacked through this means of transportation. Our lives are important. Some of them had knives and guns. If you are interested in riding Okada, why do you need a knife or a gun? Not every one of them but those who had the weapons on were arrested.

The ban is majorly about security and safety. Data from the 27 General Hospitals in the state indicated that on the average monthly, we record 28 deaths related to Okada. So, we cannot as a government let this continue. In the last two to three weeks since the ban, the accident rates have reduced from 28 to 7. So, if we saved 21 lives, is that not important? So, this is about saving lives. We did not endorse Okada ride-hailing operators in Lagos. Anybody can come on a courtesy visit. They actually came on a courtesy visit and we told them clearly that there is a law regulating Okada operations in Lagos. But that is not an endorsement; it was just a courtesy visit.

The most populous areas of the state are not even affected. The most populous areas are Alimosho Local Government followed by Mushin, followed by Kosofe, followed by Oshodi/Isolo. So, people can do their businesses. All we are saying is, don’t ply the major roads, the bridges because it is not just safe and it is also a way for criminals to act. Okada riding is not a job that most people want their children to do but the economic situation forced them to do it and now we are saying, let’s give them better alternatives; let us get people trained to do welding and other vocations.

When we were building the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, the contractor told us they could not find welders in the country. They wanted to go outside to bring in welders. We delayed the project for six months. The then governor, Babatunde Fashola, said that was never going to happen. And we trained the welders who did that project. The truth of the matter is that the Okada and Keke business is having an impact on our economy. As it is now, we don’t have artisans again in Nigeria. You want to lay tiles and people have to come from neighboring countries. Is that the future that we want? Lagos has 17 of those skilled centers and technical schools. We know that it is not everyone that will go to the university but let us train our kids so that they can earn well using their hands. And Okada is taking that away from our children.”