•Urges Lagos residents to re-elect governor based on performance, laudable achievements
•Gets CAN, Igbos’ backing
Segun James and Mary Ekah
Former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, has appealed to all Lagos State residents, especially the electorate to re-elect Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the forthcoming gubernatorial poll, saying the Governor has done so well and deserved to be re-elected.
This was just as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Lagos, the Christian community in the state and some igbo residents have expressed support for the candidacy of Sanwo-Olu, and his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Kadri Hamzat for a second term.
Speaking during the Journalist Hangout Programme on Television Continental (TVC) at the weekend, Osoba, a renowned journalist and former Editor and Managing Director of Daily Times Newspaper, said Sanwo-Olu had done so much in Lagos State and based on his performance deserved to be voted for en-masse on Saturday.
Osoba, who expressed his displeasure over the voting pattern against APC in Lagos State, especially at Ikoyi, Eti-Osa Local Government Area during the last presidential elections, urged Lagos residents to redeem themselves by voting for a performing government.
He said: “Lagos has given so much to all of us, let us pay back by showing gratitude to a Governor (Sanwo-Olu) who I believe has done his best.”
The former Ogun State governor also appealed to Lagos residents, especially youths, Ndigbo in the State and religious leaders not to allow ethnicity and religion be a dividing factor in the forthcoming governorship election in Lagos State.
He said: “In Lagos, it hurts me and it gives me sleepless nights when educated people and others voted against APC in Ikoyi for example.
“Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has done so well in Ikoyi. Ikoyi was totally run down; it was almost becoming a slum. And when Sanwo-Olu came in, he did so much renewal in Ikoyi. He has done a lot to fix Glover Road and McPherson Avenue with heavy drainage to address the flooding. He has also worked on Lateef Jakande, McDonald all the way down to Cooper Road, Alexander and Queen Drive.
“He (Governor Sanwo-Olu) has done so much renewal and yet some of us elites whose property value had gone almost 50 percent voted blindly. I thought we would vote according to performance. Anywhere in the world, you assess a government and vote based on performance. I hope they will redeem their image. How can the Ikoyi voting pattern be against a government that performed?
“They voted against APC. What is their reason? Tunji Bello used to tell me about the efforts they always make to pump water every flooding period to save us from heavy flooding. So, it devises all reasonable logic the way people; educated people voted in Ikoyi for example, where I lived.”
Osoba, who governed Ogun State during the aborted Third Republic and was also elected as the first Ogun State governor in the present Fourth Republic, appealed to all Lagos residents, especially the youths to vote for Governor Sanwo-Olu and APC candidates in the March 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections.
“Why should anybody be looking for a change in Lagos? I have spoken about the assessment and performance of Sanwo-Olu in Ikoyi where I live. This is not hearsay. The monorail that Jakande started was canceled over 40 years ago, he has restored it with the Blue line rail. I can go on and on giving you examples of his performance.
“I went to campaign in Agbado on Friday and when coming back, I google my way to my house and all throughout Agege and neighbouring areas between Ogun State and Lagos were all dualised. How do you say a man like that should not continue?
“I will urge our people, especially the youths not to make the same mistake that they made in Eti-Osa where they voted blindly out of frustration, which I appreciate. And the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, told them he will address their frustration.
“I appeal to my Igbo brothers and sisters, don’t let us make this an ethnic issue. Anywhere in the world where ethnicity has become an issue, it becomes destructive.
‘I will plead that the youth, our religious people, and our Igbo brothers and sisters in Lagos should think of the past. Nnamdi Azikwe, the father figure of Igbo land, started and all his political life was in Lagos. The first Igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo went to Methodist Boys High School and King’s College; he had his education in Lagos.
“We have been working together. Let us sustain the relationship. Lagos is the most liberal state in this country. Lagos has given so much to all of us, let us pay back by showing gratitude to a Governor who I believe has done his best,” Osoba appealed.
Meanwhile, CAN in Lagos and the Christian community in the state have endorsed Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat for second term.
Speaking during a media briefing held yesterday to announce CAN’s endorsement of the governor, the Chairman of CAN Lagos State, Bishop Stephen Adegbite noted that it was essential to make it clear that the Christian community in Lagos demanded a Christian Governor and by divine providence and listening ears of party leaders, the present governor was favoured.
Adegbite stated however that the endorsement was based primarily on Sanwo-Olu’s performance.
“His achievements in the critical sectors of the state’s economy are endearing, and we are convinced that it needs to be sustained. The recently completed multi-billion naira Imota Rice Mill project, foreign direct investments coming through the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the recently completed first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line, and the commencement of the second phase called the Red Line, repositioning of the health sector through the building of more health centres at the grassroots, and a free health policy for children below 18 years and adults above 65 years of age not minding your ethnic background or religious affiliations are just a few of the things we have seen and consistency is what we need.
“These, amongst others, are projects, programmes, and policies capable of creating employment for our teeming youths and help in strengthening our economic fortunes”, the cleric noted.
In a related development, Igbo leaders in Lagos State under the umbrella of Concerned Ndigbo has appealed to Ndigbo residents in Lagos to vote for Sanwo-Olu.
The group disclosed that credentials of all the contestants vying to be governor had been reviewed, saying none of them is better than the incumbent governor.
The group led by Chibunna Ubawuike, Ozoemena Nliam and Igwe Ikechukwu at a press conference in Ikeja, yesterday, appealed to people of Igbo extraction living in the state to support Sanwo-Olu.
Ubawuike who is the coordinator and also the National Organising Secretary, APC Support Group for Tinubu/Shetima, explained that a vote for Sanwo-Olu was imperative because his administration had performed creditably well without segregating or discriminating against any tribe in the state.
He urged Ndigbo in the state to give unflinching support to Sanwo-Olu’s re-election bid.
Secretary of the group, Nliam and the Patron, Ikechukwu while collaborating Ubawuike, described Sanwo-Olu as a honest man who has done well.
