·Fashola urges voters to maintain resolve to save Nigeria from imminent destruction·Says this is the time for Nigerians to demonstrate that power is really in their hands
Vital endorsements Tuesday came the way of the Governorship and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos as the Party’s Campaign Train made a stopover at the General Meeting of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Ejigbo and the Auto Spareparts Sellers at Ladipo in the Oshodi Isolo Local Government Area.
The endorsements came just as Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, advocated dispassionate voting among Nigerians during the forthcoming General Elections in the country saying the issue at stake has gone beyond partisan politics to involve a move to save Nigeria from imminent destruction.
Speaking at two separate occasions - at the general meeting of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Lagos State Chapter and Ladipo Auto Spareparts Sellers Association - as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial campaign train continues its move across the State, Governor Fashola said the only way to save Nigeria from that situation was to vote out the present government at the centre adding that the coming elections would provide the people the first opportunity to change a bad government.
The Governor, who was accompanied by the APC Gubernatorial Candidate for the State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and some members of the State Executive Council as well as Party Chieftains, told the gathering of Independent Petroleum Products Marketers at their Secretariat in Ejigbo, “This issue is beyond partisan issue. It is an issue now to rescue Nigeria from destruction”.
Recalling that there was a prediction by some people that Nigeria would break up in 2015, Governor Fashola expressed dismay that the Peoples Democratic Party and President Goodluck Jonathan were, by their actions, marching Nigeria towards the realization of that prediction adding that unless a change is effected at the Centre, the breakup might become a reality.
“They are setting Muslims against Christians; they are setting ethnic groups against each other in their desperation to win election. This is not who we are. We have lived together peacefully; we have done business together, we have inter-married and lived happily; so we must rescue Nigeria from their hands”, he said.
Noting that the coming elections would not be the first time we have held elections in the country, the Governor, who frowned at the use of the Military in the conduct of the exercise, recalled that in the past elections security had always been provided by the Police.
According to him, “If we needed security at the polling booths, it had always been the Police that provided it. Suddenly, the Leadership of the Military that should be defending our Constitution and our democracy is now saying it cannot secure Nigeria. So, what is uppermost in this election is Change at the Centre”.
Governor Fashola, who noted that Nigerians have experienced good and bad governance in the last decades, said the unique thing about the forthcoming general Elections was that Nigerians would have the opportunity to change a bad government for the first time adding that in the past it was the Military that did the changing by force of arms.
“This is the first time that we, the people, can change a government that is bad. This is a full cycle of democracy and if we achieve this, power will henceforth stay in the hands of the people. If you vote APC and they fail to do well, it is you, the people, who will vote them out. That is what is important about this election”, he said.
He pointed out that if the Nigerian people succeed in changing a bad government, the succeeding government would remember that it was the people that removed the previous one and put them there adding that this consciousness would put them on their toes to serve the people well knowing they too could be removed if they performed badly.
Urging the people to be courageous and insist on change of government at the centre, Governor Fashola warned that the ruling party, in their desperation, would provoke and intimidate them but added, “Be gently stubborn. If they do anything, just be courageous and keep your PVC. During the time for voting, go to your polling booth and vote and remain there until your vote is counted”.
Also speaking at the venue, the APC Gubernatorial Candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, promised to continue the good works that has been accomplished by both the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the present administration in the State saying he would continue to create enabling environment for the marketers to expand their businesses and employ more people who according to him would also pay tax for the development of the State.
At Ladipo Auto-Spareparts Market, Governor Fashola urged the auto-parts dealers not to sell their PVCs or their votes pointing out that doing so would amount to mortgaging their future and the future of their children to the bad governance of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
He reiterated, “This is not about brother or sister. It has gone beyond that to involve the need for all of us to resolve to save Nigeria from a bad government that is leading our country along the path of destruction. Voting the present government in will mean continued poverty, unemployment, crash of the Naira and eventual collapse of Nigeria”.
Urging the people to vote for continuity in Lagos, Governor Fashola declared, “The only reason Lagos is working is that, this is the only State in Nigeria that PDP hasn’t governed”, adding that allowing the Party to enter Lagos would be worse than the Ebola Virus Disease.
“We all worked together to combat Ebola but one man went to hide and he said he was the one that combated Ebola. Did he meet with the patients? Was it not me that met with the patients? Was I not the one who held them? Are your children not included? I am the first political leader in the world that has held an Ebola survivor; then Barak Obama did it in America. Where was our own leader, where was our President?”, the Governor asked.
He recalled that the President also refused to visit Chibok to console parents of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram adding, “He loves his life more that you. It is not that I was not afraid, but, I know that if I am afraid, how will you feel? The reason you elected me is to protect you”.
Presenting Ambode to the traders for support and their votes as the next Governor come May 29, 2015, the Governor maintained that Lagos needs a person who has learnt the ropes and grown in the system likening the situation to what obtains among the traders with apprentices under them who eventually graduate to become managers of the business.
“I say, this is the only state that PDP has not governed. We have been in opposition. We have survived. We have built our own common wealth with your taxes. We have intermarried, we have lived together peacefully, we have co-existed, we have done business together. Somebody is now coming and saying “No, you are from the East, vote for me”. This is not about where you are from, it is about who can do the job”, he said.
Urging them to vote APC at the Federal level, Governor Fashola who recounted the economic atrocities the Jonathan administration has committed in the last six years such as the loss of $20 billion, declared, “Just imagine, think about it, what will happen if this country gets an APC Federal Government; just dream about it”.
In his remarks, the APC Governorship candidate, promised to continue from where the present administration stopped in developing the Market saying he would repair the roads, build a pedestrian bridge at the Toyota bus-stop as requested by the traders and complete the lighting of the streets in the Market.
Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ben Akabueze urged the traders to vote for continuity in Lagos and change at the centre saying it is the only way to continue to enjoy the legacy of good governance being bequeathed to the people by the present government.
He warned them against selling their PVCs saying it would mean selling their rights to good governance and mortgaging themselves to poverty and the crash of their business due to the crash of the Naira.
The Commissioner debunked the allegations being peddled by the opposition party that the APC Presidential Candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, would Islamize Nigeria pointing out that the former Head of State remains one of the foremost detribalized Nigerians with no bias for any religion as most of his personal staff are Christians.
In his welcome remarks, the APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, also urged the people to vote APC both at the Centre and in Lagos pointing out that the State has enabled them to prosper exceedingly in the last 15 years with the Ladipo Market growing from just few stores a decade and half ago to become a multi-billion Naira business.
He recalled that the Yoruba in Lagos have always demonstrated goodwill towards the Igbo pointing out that while their kinsmen across the Niger seized their properties and declared them abandoned properties after the Civil War, the Yoruba returned the houses belonging to Igbo to their original owners.
“Where you live and make your daily bread is your home and it is the APC, not PDP, that has provided good governance for you to prosper”, he said adding that whatever other issue concerning their welfare would be resolved with sustained engagement with the government.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of the Ladipo Auto Spareparts Sellers Association, Mr. Ikechukwu Anumalu promised that the Association was solidly behind the APC and its candidates both for the State and the Centre.
Also present at the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Secretariat were the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Chairman Lagos State Chapter of IPMAN, Chief Adebayo Ajayi, his Deputy, Mr. Ayo Alanamu and other Executive and members of the Association while at the Ladipo Market to receive the Governor and his entourage were Executive Committee members including its President, Mr. Ikechukwu Anumalu and hundreds of members of the Auto Spareparts Sellers Association.
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