Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday blamed the People's Democratic Party for masterminding the different messages being circulated through several electronic media about a "fictitious" rift between him and his predecessor, Bola Tinubu.
The message, being circulated under the title of "Lagos Voters" read that "Fashola says no to Tinubu's juju oath swearing, let us all pray for Fashola's protection from the evil Tinubu godfather."
Mr Fashola, while speaking to journalists after a meeting of the party's leaders held at Mainland Hotel in Oyingbo, urged all Lagos residents to ignore the message. "I will ignore it and I implore every right thinking member of our party to remain vigilant," he said. "This is the manifestation of the corrupt character of the PDP which is posing as Labour and all sorts of things to destabilise all other parties. People must be vigilant. They must wake up to all these false antics. They must ignore all these text messages of fear and deception. People should ignore all those text messages; they are messages of farewell because the PDP is going."
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| Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) fielding questions from journalists after the meeting with leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Mainland Hotel, Oyingbo, Ebute Meta, Lagos on Tuesday April 5, 2011 |
Internal rift
The governor denied any rift within the ranks of the party, especially in the Mainland Local Government where the meeting held. The party was allegedly losing last Saturday's botched National Assembly election which was already underway before it was cancelled. The postponement of the election was therefore a lifeline for the party to close cracks existing within the party. "We have just finished our meeting and there is no rift in our party," he said.
Another message being circulated advised Lagos residents to vote for Mr Fashola but not for legislative candidates of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria because if the party has the majority of the House of Assembly, it will be easy to impeach Mr Fashola. However, the governor urged Lagos residents not to use the power of their vote in accordance with baseless opinions. Rather, he said, they should consider the track record of the party, which he described as a "refreshing breath of fresh air."
Attacking the PDP
"We expect to win in all the places where we fielded candidates," he said. "People must wake up and listen to us because we mean well. They should look at our track record in all the states we are controlling. So, we are imploring the voters to try something new because the PDP has failed them. The truth is that PDP has not campaigned on any issue. They have not told us a believable solution for health, housing and other problems confronting our people. Those peddling the rumour that we shall lose have their opinion. We have focused on our campaign and our manifesto. What do other parties bring?
After a party have run government for 12 years without a record of any progress, then we are a refreshing breath of fresh air. We must be. Look at what they have done to themselves in other states they controlled. You see candidates emerging overnight and some being removed. Within one year, they have changed national chairman thrice. PDP is a party that cannot even manage its affairs. They said their former chairman has a case to answer, were their eyes closed when they picked him?"
Support for INEC
While commenting on the uncertainties surrounding the ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Fashola urged asked Nigerians to show their support for the commission, which he said is working "in a difficult environment created by the mismanagement and inefficiency of the PDP-led federal government."
"But we have to understand that this is a country where the PDP government has wrecked virtually all our infrastructure," he said. "So, what normally is a difficult task becomes monumental. There are no roads and no rail. So what miracle do we expect, really? How do we get materials to far flung areas on time? Is INEC supposed to perform overnight magic by constructing roads?"
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