...Says gov, deputy's re-election, affirmation of people’s trust in their first term efforts
Mr. Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has assured residents of the state to be ready for a lot more goodies from the governor and his deputy, Dr. Kadir Obafemi Hamzat during their second term in office.
Akosile gave this assurance during a political interview programme on Silverbird Television, “Inside Politics with CKN,” anchored by Chris Kehinde Nwandu, saying that Governor Sanwo-Olu, who is very happy about the people of Lagos State, giving him and his deputy, a mandate for the second time in office, would meet the yearnings and aspirations of millions of Lagosians through the administration’s THEMES PLUS agenda.
Sanwo-Olu’s spokesman said the governor had made a lot of huge investments in transportation, education, health, entertainment, security, environment, civil service, technology, and other critical sectors in his first term and would do more during the second term in the delivery of the dividends of democracy and good governance to the people.
“The governor started on a journey with six pillars’ THEMES agenda: Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, and Security and Governance.
“The governor has made huge investments in all of these areas. And part of our achievements in the first term, which we have not even ended, is the commissioning of the Oba Sekumade Road in Ikorodu (commissioned on Friday), among several other road networks across the state, completed and handed over to the public in the first term.
“Going into the second term, the governor will continue with his agenda but he is going to turn it into THEMES PLUS because this time around, we will have things around inclusion; inclusion in governance. We are going to have things around gender balancing, whereby we give more opportunities to the youth and the women,” Akosile said.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu in his wisdom and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has tried to meet the 35 percent Affirmative Action for women and even the youths but going forward, we are going to be focusing more on deliberately including women and youths in all of the activities. So, Lagosians should just be ready for a lot more goodies from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat,” he added.
On the March 18 Governorship Election, Akosile said the victory of Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Hamzat was an affirmation that the people of Lagos State trusted them in the first term, adding that it was also “more like a challenge for him and his deputy governor.”
“Governor Sanwo-Olu’s feeling about the election is in two ways. Naturally, he feels relieved. He feels happy and excited to have been reelected for the second term in office. But on the other side, he feels humbled. He feels challenged because he has said on two or three occasions since we won the election that it is more like a challenge for him and his deputy governor.
“Today (Friday), when we went to commission Oba Sekumade Road in Ikorodu, he said their reelection is an affirmation of the fact that the people of Lagos State trusted them in the first term, which is still ongoing and Lagosians are now trusting them with more works. So, for him, it is more of a challenge for them to do more,” he said.
Speaking further, Akosile kicked against any attempt to divide Lagos residents through ethnicity, saying people desired Lagos, where “our diversity will continue to be our source of strength.”
“We want a Lagos where our diversity will continue to be our source of strength. We want a Lagos where everybody who is a taxpaying Lagosian is not criminally minded. You do your work legitimately; nobody is disturbing you and you are not disturbing anybody. That is the kind of Lagos that we want.
“The governor, in his Acceptance Speech said that we don’t want division very well. We don’t want any form of bigotry. We don’t want any form of ethnic coloration in our affairs in Lagos State,” he said.
Akosile commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for being very proactive during the last general elections in curbing the activities of those who tried to use ethnicity to cause division in the state before and during the election by calling them to order, saying that was why the elections were peaceful in many parts of Lagos State.
He also expressed his displeasure against those calling to cancel the last gubernatorial election based on alleged voter intimidation.
“Amuwo-Odofin was won by Labour Party. Was there voter intimidation there? If there was voter intimidation all over Lagos State, there is no way they would have won that local government, which is very big. The Labour Party also recorded the victory in other polling units outside Amuwo Odofin.
“Besides, there are 13,325 polling units in Lagos State. We recorded not very serious glitches in less than one percent of the polling units and you are telling me that that election was not good. How good can an election be?” he asked.