March 30, (THEWILL) – The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that Lagos politics has been devoid of religion, ethnicity, violence and hate until the Labour Party (LP) introduced ethnicity in the last governorship election.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State Chapter of the APC, Hon. Seye Oladejo, said until the Labour Party introduced ethnicity into its campaign machinery for the governorship election, ethnicity, which is anathema to democracy, has never been a factor in the voting pattern in Lagos State.
“It was introduced and orchestrated by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. His intention was to pitch a section of the populace against another. When he started his campaign, he was Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. He soon metamorphosed into Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour and, with his mother, was campaigning in areas seen as having a heavy Igbo population, adopting Igbo as the language of communication.
“The candidate, who does not speak Yoruba, showed his resentment for the people he desired to lead when he retorted that “I don’t think in Yoruba” – in reply to a reporter’s question. His supporters latched on to his body language and disposition to taunt the Yoruba and other Lagosians by proclaiming that Lagos is a no man’s land.
“Following the same script, LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, campaigned only in markets dominated by people from a section of the country when he visited Lagos,” he said.
He, however, commended Lagosians for voting Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a second term, saying his victory was recognition of the giant strides of Mr. Governor in all the six pillars of the THEMES Agenda – the development plan of his administration – and the rejection of ethnicity, violence and hate.
He commended Lagosians for their discernment as a people as well as their resilience, which he said were well displayed, as they brushed aside divisive tendencies to vote a clearly popular and performing government back to power
“Many false narratives have been put in the public space by the aggressors in the last election, who have turned round to shed crocodile tears in their bid to play the victim. The elections have been won and lost. It is time for all patriotic citizens to concentrate on building our dear State and, by extension, the nation. But this is not the thinking of the opposition, who has shown that they lack the true spirit of sportsmanship.
“This conference, therefore, is to review the election and comment on some of the false allegations that opposition parties have been spinning in the media space,” Oladejo said.
He said it is on record that there are 13,325 polling units in Lagos State and that there were reports of disturbances in about 130 or one percent of all the polling units.
“I think that is too infinitesimal for anyone to rely upon to say that the election was not free and fair. In other words, under no circumstance can we say this has invalidated the credibility of the elections.
“We also need to state that the false alarm that members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) perpetrated violence during the election cannot be substantiated. The party has loyalists, members and sympathizers in all nooks and crannies of the State. It has no reason to embrace 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?”
He said 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 – and 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 and 2019, a total of 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% in 2015, 55.6% in 2019 and 36.6% in 2023.
“What the above numbers say to us is that the BVAS introduced by INEC helped tremendously in ensuring that only registered voters accredited and captured by the machine could vote. The BVAS recorded 88% success rate in the 176,606 polling units across the nation. BVAS malfunctioned in 9% of polling units and was fixed. BVAS was replaced in 2% of polling units where it malfunctioned. In our view, INEC deserves some applause for this feat.
“The reforms also ensured that violence was reduced to the barest minimum. It is very sad and unfortunate that 13 deaths were recorded in electoral violence in the 2023 elections; no life should be lost at all. Every death mocks our humanity, but compared to 150 in 2019, 100 in 2015, 800 in 2011, 300 in 2007, 100 in 2003, and 80 in 1999, we have made some progress. The security agencies should be commended for a job well done,” he said.
Also, while giving his opening remarks during the press conference, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho, said the election has come and gone and that the people should stop any divisive language or gesture, saying “We are always one in Lagos.
“We should not allow anybody to come and destroy our heritage. We should keep the value of oneness and we should not destroy the value that we cherished most.”
He said the Sanwo-Olu government believes the reelection will afford the administration the opportunity of opening a new phase in the development of Lagos State.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
