The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC as wwii as the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu are stepping up preparations for the March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly poll in Lagos.
Recall that the APC and Tinubu recorded great upset in that February 25th Presidential election, where the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party,LP, Peter Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos.
Obi won in nine of the 20 local governments and polled 582,130 votes to beat Tinubu, who won 11 LGAs with 571, 575 votes.
Obviously unsettled by this development, the topmost echelon of the ruling APC have gone back to the drawing board to woo voters in a bid to avert reoccurring voter apathy in the Saturday poll.
Stemming the tide of voter apathy
It was obserbed that last Saturday Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state witnessed a low turn out.
The party and some political watchers have attributed the defeat of APC in Lagos to apathy on the part of supporters and some aggrieved members of the party, vis-a-viz wide disenchantment by residents against the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu for foisting the out-going President Muhammadu Buhari on the nation, whose administration has been described as a colossal failure.
Tinubu arrives Lagos ahead of poll
The President-elect, Tinubu arrived Lagos, during the weekend, promising Nigerians he would not disappoint them.
Tinubu was given a tumultuous reception at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja when touched down in Lagos on Sunday.
He was received by Sanwo-Olu, Chief of Staff to the governor, Tayo Ayinde, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro among other party chieftains.
The train, according to a statement by Tinubu’s media office, proceeded to Iga-Iduganran palace, where Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, and other traditional rulers were on ground to receive him.
Addressing the modest crowd, the President-elect likened the primary and eventual election to a World Cup tournament, thanking God and the people for his victory.
He said his message was one of gratitude, adding that he would work assiduously for Nigeria from the get-go.
Speaking in Yoruba, Tinubu thanked Oba Akiolu and the other traditional rulers for their prayers and support.
The monarch described the President-elect as a special breed “who is destined for leadership at the very top.”
APC women mobilize for Sanwo-Olu
But, in another development, Women Arise 4 Tinubu, a support group of the All Progressives Congress, yesterday, in Enugu, congratulated Tinubu on his victory at the presidential election.
National Coordinator, Mrs. Oby Onu, said Tinubu’s victory was well deserved and evidenced the political mileage he had built over the years.
She said she was optimistic that Tinubu would perform well; stressing that Nigeria would have a breath of fresh air under his leadership.
She called on opponents who lost to Tinubu to embrace peace and join hands with the winner to right the wrongs of Nigeria, noting that in every contest a winner must emerge.
Onu also called on the Lagos State electorate to turn out en masse on March 11 to re-elect Sanwo-Olu, to enable him consolidate on achievements during his first term.
The top candidates
According to INEC, the final list of governorship and House of Assembly candidates has 16 political parties contesting the governorship seat.
The leading Governorship candidates are: incumbent, Sanwo-Olu, APC; Dr. Olajide Adediran, PDP; Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, LP; and Olufunso Doherty, African Democratic Congress, ADC, among others.
APC embarks door-to-door campaigns
Members of the state executive council and chieftains of APC, it was gathered had been directed to embark on door-to-door campaigns to canvass votes from residents and aggrieved party members in order to ensure victory.
“We have embarked on door-to-door to appeal to residents on the need to come out en-masse and vote for APC. We have been to Agege, Ojo, Badagry, Alimosho, Ikeja, Apapa, Kosofe, Ibeju-Lekki, among others,” Tayo Ayinde, Chief of Staff to Sanwo-Olu confirmed.
The Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, Seye Oladejo, when contacted simply said: “We’re doing everything within our power legally and politically to ensure that Governor Sanwo-Olu secures a second term. We will rather keep our strategies close to our chest.”
Sanwo-Olu during one of the campaign rallies, rolled out reasons he, and his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, deserved to return to the state government house in 2023 for a second term. “Now, we can say ‘Greater Lagos Rising’ because our state is rising on all our modest achievements through the THEMES agenda.”
(Punch)
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