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Lagos govt, APC urge peaceful co-existence, assure residents of good governance

By Kehinde Olatunji
31 March 2023   |   3:37 am
The Lagos government, yesterday, said the state did not record any death from the just concluded March 25, Governorship and House of Assembly, while calling for peaceful co-existence among residents of the state.

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho

The Lagos government, yesterday, said the state did not record any death from the just concluded March 25, Governorship and House of Assembly, while calling for peaceful co-existence among residents of the state.

The Commissioner of information, Gbenga Omotoso, who stated this at a briefing organised by the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) to address issues arising from the election, urged Lagosians to beware of unverified reports that could trigger unnecessary chaos and fight, noting that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration is focused on delivering good governance to all and sundry.

He said: “Governor Sanwo-Olu, in his victory speech, said there’s no victor and no vanquish in the just concluded election. All the things that keep us together as Lagosians should be cherished and we should shun divisive rhetoric. We should go back to being brothers and sisters, and to be our brother’s keepers. The values that keep us together, our unity and love for one another, our love and passion for the state should be promoted. We should not allow people to come and divide us because of politics.”

On his part, APC’s publicity secretary, Seye Oladejo, said it was time for all patriotic citizens to concentrate on building the state and by extension, the nation, since elections were over.

He urged the opposition parties that participated in the election to embrace the spirit of sportsmanship, noting that it was time to brush aside divisive tendencies.

Oladejo dismissed the allegations that members of the APC perpetrated violence during the election, saying such could not be substantiated, noting that since the party has loyalists, members and sympathisers in all nooks and crannies of the state, it has no reason to engage in violence.

“On the contrary, our members were mostly the victims of intimidation and violence. Many are still in hospitals where doctors are battling to save their lives. A few days ago threats and intimidation continued even in the post-election era and it was raised to the most unexpected height when, a respected statesman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu called the Yoruba, ‘political rascals’ who would be handled.
If I may ask, who is intimidating who?

“There have been futile efforts to discredit the 2023 general elections, with some of the losers and their sympathisers alleging that it is the worst election in the history of the nation. They are trying to turn the truth on its head. A comparative analysis of past and last elections will help us to establish the truth.

“Comparing the last three elections: 2015, 2019 and 2023, using the leading three political parties, one can safely conclude that the 2023 election is the most credible, freest and fairest. While 29,432,083 and 28,614,190 votes were cast in 2015, 2019, a total 24, 965,218 votes were cast in 2023. The margin of victory in 2015, 2019 and 2023 are 2,571,759, 3,928,869 and 1,810, 206, representing 53.9 per cent in 2015, 55.6 per cent in 2019 and 36.6 per cent in 2023.

“What the above numbers say to us is that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) introduced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) helped tremendously in ensuring that only registered voters accredited and captured by the machine could vote.

“The BVAS recorded 88 per cent success rate in the 176, 606 polling units across the nation. BVAS malfunctioned in nine per cent of polling units and was fixed. BVAS was replaced in two per cent of polling units where it malfunctioned. In our view, INEC deserves some applause for this feat.

Oladejo urged the security personnel to curb the excesses of warmongers and scaremongers desperate to foment trouble in the state, noting that the party condemns the post-election hate speeches and fake news still being promoted in various media spaces.

“May I alert the security agencies by calling their attention to meetings on Twitter Space towards mobilising unsuspecting people for demonstrations aimed at destroying Lagos State, a replica of the #EndSARS saga.

“It should be noted that the general election was held throughout the nation and the law provides for those not satisfied with the conduct of the exercise to approach the court of law as it is done in civilised climes. Any approach contrary to this under any guise should be viewed seriously.”

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