The candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the October 31 Lagos East senatorial bye-election, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru has appealed to the party faithfuls and leaders in the senatorial district to use the forthcoming bye-election to prove the voting strength of Lagos State to the entire country.
In a statement by the Senatorial candidate’s media unit, Abiru, who was former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, also pleaded with the party faithfuls to go from community to community, house to house or local council to local council, convincing about two million registered electorate in Lagos East to vote the APC and his candidate in the next bye-election.
He made this appeal at a meeting with the APC leaders in Epe Division on Monday, promising them people-oriented representation and assuring them that he would always put people and party first if and when elected.
The meeting, which was held at the residence of a Governance Advisory Council (GAC) member in Epe, Alhaji Akanni Seriki, was attended the Vice Chairman of Lagos APC, Chief Kaoli Olusanya; the husband of Ogun State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Bode Oyedele and a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Wale Raji, among others.
After the meeting the APC leaders, Abiru had another meeting with the Council of Lagos State Ijebu Traditional Rulers at the palace of the Aladeshonyin of Odo-Noforija, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja, also in Epe Local Government Area.
The monarchs, who were at the council meeting, include the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi; Oloja of Epe Land, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun; Olubeshe of Ibeshe, Oba Rasheed Ogunsanya and 15 others.
While he appealed the monarchs and their subjects to support his candidacy for the bye-election scheduled to hold on October 31, the senatorial candidate, he challenged the APC faithfuls to prevail upon the decided and undecided electorate in Lagos East to vote the APC and its candidate.
Abiru, the immediate past Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Polaris Bank Limited, told the traditional rulers that voting the APC in the bye-election “is a decision no resident of Lagos East will ever regret,” reeling programmes of action he had mapped to make difference if elected.
He added at the meeting with the traditional rulers that the INEC “has already scheduled our bye-election for October 31. It is only six weeks away. We need your support to win this bye-election. We also need the support of your subjects to vote for my party and I on the day of the election.”
Likewise, the senatorial candidate asked the party faithfuls “to go house-by-house, community-by-community or locality-by-locality to convince all registered electorate to vote our party in the forthcoming bye-election.
“We must use this bye-election to show the strength of APC not only in Lagos East, but also in Lagos State to the entire country. We must reach out to those who have decided for our party and those who have not decided for our party. We must prevail upon them all to vote for us massively.”
He, thus, promised to represent the APC and the people of Lagos East, Lagos State and indeed Nigeria with integrity, commitment and passion leveraging all the experience, competences, knowledge and relationships he had acquired over three decades as an economist, chartered accountant, banker, commissioner for finance, senior banker and CEO.
He, similarly, promised to focus on the welfare of his constituents in Lagos East and use the position of a senator and his energy and resources to ensure their empowerment, prosperity, security, welfare and well being.
Specifically, Abiru noted that he would work with the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu “to ensure completion of all infrastructure projects in Lagos East. With his support too, Mr. Governor will initiate new projects in Lagos East in line with his agenda.
“Likewise, I will work with the ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government to ensure the completion and reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Ikorodu-Sagamu highway, Epe-Ikorodu road and Epe-Ibeju-Lekki expressway, among others,” the candidate said.
Animashaun, who spoke on behalf of the monarchs, commended the APC for putting forward a quality candidate, who served in the banking industry and public service in different capacities for over three decades with untainted record
The monarchs urged the senatorial candidate to put the interest of the people first at all times. Collectively, the monarchs prayed for Abiru that he would emerge victorious in the forthcoming senatorial bye-election.
