…urges Makinde to work with Tinubu’s presidency
Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
The Director, APC Presidential Campaign Council, National Youth Mobilization, South West, Engr. Kazeem Kolawole Raji has described the re-election of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his Ogun State counterpart, Gov. Dapo Abiodun, as a token of appreciation by the electorates for their exceptional performance during their first term in office.
Engr Raji in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday said there was no way Lagosians would not have reposed another round of confidence in the person and capacity of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, considering his outstanding achievements and plethora of ground breaking feats recorded during his first term in office.
He said “The re-election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu does not come to me as a surprise despite the fact that the party narrowly lost the Presidential election in the state, three weeks earlier. My confidence is bolstered by the unprecedented level of infrastructural transformation and urban renewal that the state witnessed during the governor’s first term in office”.
“Notwithstanding the giant leap in the transport sector occasioned by the completion of the Blue Line of the Metro Rail Project which was test run and commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Red Line part of the Metro Rail system is also near completion and usage will be opened for public benefits in due course”.
Raji added that the children’s hospital under construction in Lagos Island, and those fully renovated have helped to expand access to healthcare service delivery across the state.
He revealed further that the THEMES Agenda, which guides the administration’s policy framework, had been pursued diligently in the last three and half years.
Recall that THEMES, the agenda for Greater Lagos, represents the six-pillar development plan of the Sanwo-Olu-led administration. It stands for Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy; Entertainment and Tourism; and Security and Governance.
He stated further that apart from the success recorded in the rail sector, the administration expanded the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system by opening new routes, while also expanding water transportation with the construction of new jetties and deployment of more LagFerries.
“This has helped communities around the Lagoon like Ikorodu commute seamlessly”, he stated, adding that the launching of cheaper, cleaner LagRide, a car hiring service that has revolutionised the way Lagosians move around.
Raji stressed that these and many more endeared the governor into the hearts of Lagosians.
In the same vein, the APC also highlighted some strong credentials of Governor Dapo Abiodun which, according to him, informed the teaming majority of Ogun State electorates to re-elect him.
”From the get-go, to curb unemployment level initiative in the state, Gov. Dapo Abiodun launched as early as August 2019, the Ogun Job Portal, which dimensioned unemployment crises and linked young people with business owners.
“The State Government utilised the online platform to get details of applicants for employment and empowerment in different sectors, especially education, security and agriculture. Consequently, over 10,000 youths have been empowered and recruited into teaching internship scheme called OgunTeach.
“Many youths and job applicants were also recruited into the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency, OGEPA, different cadres in the health sector and into Amotekun, the security architecture designed by states government in the South Western parts of Nigeria. Over 1,700 affordable housing units across the length and breadth of the state were constructed by the Governor.
“Security and development are intertwined. No wonder, Gov. Dapo Abiodun in his first term in office saw to the re-energisation and restructuring of Security Trust Fund to receive and manage donations from the private sector. The Committee also mobilized these funds and resources for the training and retraining of security personnel.
“The private-sector led OGSTF made remarkable achievements that have strengthened the security architecture of the State, received significant donations and earned the trust of the Federal Government that released Police aircraft to monitor the State. Security has equally gone digital in Ogun with drones and technology now deployed for surveillance’.
“It then didn’t come as a surprise when electorates in the two states of Lagos and Ogun came out to renew the mandates of these two great individuals who excelled in delivering avalanche of public benefits to their constituents. The best reward for a job well done is an opportunity to serve more’, the statement said.
RAJI also congratulated the re-elected Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde and opined that his re-election was another evidence of the transparency of the electoral system by Buhari Administration.
”This is In sharp contrast to the ‘grab it all’ mantra of the PDP administration of the past, one can see Nigerians freely expressing and getting expected results from their votes under the present APC Administration.
“The re-election of Engr. Seyi Makinde who from indications also did his best for Oyo State electorates in his first term in office wouldn’t have been possible without a Free, Fair, Transparent and credible electoral process put in place by the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari”, Raji explained.
It would be recalled that the PDP under which Engr. Seyi Makinde contested lost the Presidential and Federal Legislative elections in Oyo state just three weeks ago.’
Raji went further to admonish Engr. Seyi Makinde to work closely with the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other APC Governors in the South West Region to actualize the ‘Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN’.
”While congratulating all the newly elected Governors, I wish to exhort them not to betray the confidence reposed in them by the electorates as this will amount to a complete defeat of all the democratic gains of this credible electoral process ‘
”All in all, I wish to thank the the South West electorates most especially the youths for coming out to demonstrate their franchise and elected candidates of their choice in the last general elections.
“It is my strong belief that the Renewed Hope Administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will usher in unprecedented growth, peace and stability in the Nation”, Raji concluded.
