By Olaseni Durojaiye
The candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Owolabi Salis, has said a key objective driving his aspiration to govern Lagos State is to “take back the commonwealth of the state and give it back to the people” of the state.
He also disclosed that the theme of his campaign was “Protecting the Commonwealth of Lagos and Stopping the Imposition of Candidates.”
He said if elected governor of Lagos State, he would improve the lot of the people at the bottom of the social ladder, enhance the security of life and property in the state by bringing back professionalism to
all the security apparatus, promote independence of the judiciary as well as provision of critical infrastructure across the state.
While lamenting that the fortunes of the state was being controlled by an individual, he also said several political offices in the state were filled with stooges who do the bidding of their political godfather as against the wishes of the people and promised to reverse the trend if elected the next governor of the state.
Salis spoke in Lagos during a press briefing to announce his emergence as the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the state and articulate his campaign promises ahead of the election next year.
“As the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy, the theme of our campaign is protecting the commonwealth of Lagos and stopping the imposition of candidates in election. Imposition of candidates is why
political offices in Lagos is filled with stooges. Of course, you know that those stooges only do the bidding of their political godfathers when they get into office as against working for the people at the
grassroots.
“I stand for the less privileged people of Lagos State. I will take back the commonwealth of Lagos which is presently being controlled by one individual and give it back to Lagosians. If I am elected governor of Lagos State next year, I will work to improve the lives of the less
privileged people of the state. I will work for the advancements of their living condition by, among others, building critical infrastructure.
Speaking further, he deplored vote buying and rigging during elections, describing the practices as undemocratic adding vote buying remains a factor working against political parties without huge campaign
funds.
“Other critical legs of our campaign promises and which I will implement if elected governor, are to improve the level of professionalism among the police and other security agencies. We will also ensure independence of the judiciary as a way to further strengthen good governance and promote commerce and industry in the
state in accordance with what obtains is mega cities like New York,” he stated.
He lamented that the level of bullish intimidation of opposition politicians in the state was becoming worrisome and called on the police high command to intervene immediately.
He added that the candidate of his party for the Lagos House of Assembly in Shomolu 11 State Constituency, Kazeem Giwa, escaped death by whiskers when he was shot at by political thugs while he went about his campaigns.
