Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has urged the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the March 18 governorship election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Dr Abdulazeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other contestants to join hands with him in building a better Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu made the appeal on Thursday after receiving his certificate of return as the winner of the election for the second and final term in office.
The governor and his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and all the newly elected members of the House of Assembly were presented with their certificates at a ceremony held at INEC office in Yaba.
The National Commissioner in charge of Lagos, Oyo and Ogun, Mr. Sam Olumekun presented the certificates to them.
Sanwo-Olu in his remarks hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for successfully embarking on the difficult assignment of conducting another general election, advising the commission to raise the bar in subsequent polls.
“We want to thank you on behalf of all Lagosians and I’m sure the same sentiment is being said all around the nation. And we hope in future elections, you would continue to raise the bar. You have set a new record for yourself and God will give you the enablement, the entire leadership, to continue to raise the bar,” he said.
He also extended hands of fellowship to fellow contestants, appealing to them to join hands with him in the task of building a greater and better Lagos.
LP’s Rhodes-Vivour and PDP’s Adediran were the major contestants against Sanwo-Olu.
He said, “I want to seize this opportunity to once again extend our hands of fellowship to all our fellow contestants for the office of the governor, Deputy Governor, House of Assembly, for us to join hands to build a better Lagos of our dreams, the greater Lagos that is realisable in our own life time.
“For those dissatisfied with the outcome of any of the elections, there are legitimate mechanisms of redress offered by our functional judicial system.”
Against the backdrop of the ethnic slurs that trailed the elections in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu further reiterated his call on Lagosians to shun divisive tendencies which he said do not define the true spirit of the state.
He said, “Therefore to the good people of Lagos, let us leave no room for hatred, incitement or violence in our midst. The true spirit of Lagos is law abiding and welcoming of the diversities that define us. Diversity of ethnicity, of religion, of social class, of different leanings and affiliation.
“This is our solemn promise to you all. In all of these, we will never forget that we are Lagosians first and foremost, united by ideas that the mega city of our status embodies. We are hardworking We are tolerant, we have a lot of diversities amongst us. We are innovative with a lot of energies and we have an uncanny quest for excellence.
“Regardless of where in Lagos we live, or what our mother tongue or dialect is or what God asks us to worship, we are all set out for the hope and expectations that our hustle will pay up one day, that today will be better than yesterday and tomorrow would be a better today for all of us.
“These ideal aspirations are the things that truly matter to us, over and above any of the differences that may exist among us.”
The governor promised to complete all ongoing projects in his second term and prioritise new ones, urging Lagosians to continue to hold him accountable and see him and other elected people as their servant leaders.
“Today I stand before you, I’m older, I’m wiser, I am more experienced and certainly more committed to deliver on the contract that binds me, my deputy and the good people of Lagos State.
“You have been with us every step of this journey providing feedback, sharing your opinions, holding us accountable. As we commence the next phase of this journey that will take us to 2027 by the grace of Almighty God, I want you to continue to hold us accountable as your elected servants, as your servant leader in Lagos.
“We have made promises, indeed we have also delivered on so many of these promises. In the last few months, you have seen a lot of communications around what we have been able to modestly accomplish in the last almost four years now in line with our THEMES agenda.”
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