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BREAKING: Sanwo-Olu Is A Man With Superlative Vision And Commitment, He’ll Write The Proper History For Lagos — Tinubu

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The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has sort of endorsed Jide Sanwo-Olu as the governorship candidate of the party in Lagos ahead of the primary election.

In a statement released on Sunday, September 30, the former governor of Lagos state noted that the state follows a blueprint that has guided the success of his own and Babatunde fashola’s administration.

Tinubu hinted that Ambode has failed to follow this plan and thus called on members of the party to vote for Sanwo-Olu.

He described him as someone who understands the plan of the state and said he will personally participate in the state primaries.

Read the statement below:

Tomorrow, our party and the people of Lagos will have an encounter with destiny. We shall hold our governorship primary.

With the holding of direct primaries to elect governorship candidates in Lagos and other states, the APC takes a groundbreaking step toward greater internal democracy and progressive governance for the benefit of all people.

While our party is young, it has grown fast and has travelled far in a short time. This speaks well of the character of you, the party’s rank-and-file members. What, in other nations, has taken political parties generations to achieve, we have done in a few brief years. No other party in Nigeria dare attempt what we have already dedicated ourselves to do.

I thank and commend all APC members and all Lagosians who have lent their support to this historic and humane mission upon which our party has embarked. We are Democrats in the truest sense of the word.

As such, we forever search for what is good and right for the people. With this ideal as our guide, tomorrow’s primary cannot be shaded by selfish ambition or the perceived personal grievance between this or that person. Something much greater waits in the balance. What is at stake is nothing less than the future of the people of this state and how we can best maximise our collective destiny.

By resort to direct primaries, the party places the people’s future soundly in their hands. As democracy would have it, you shall be the authors of the party’s nomination and hopefully our next state government. I trust in the wisdom of the people and will abide it.

However, as a leader of the party and as a former governor of our beloved and excellent Lagos, I would be remiss if I did not make a few observations regarding the primary. My goal is and shall always be a better Lagos.

To this objective, I have dedicated the greater part of my public life. Roughly 20 years ago, a corps of dedicated and patriotic Lagosians, put aside personal interests and rivalries, to put their minds and best ideas together for the good of the state.

Out of this collaborative effort, was born a master plan for economic development that would improve the daily lives of our people. Bestowed on me was the honour of a lifetime when I was elected to be your governor in 1999. My administration faithfully implemented that plan.

The government of my immediate successor, Tunde Fashola, also honoured this enlightened plan. Where state government remained true to that blueprint, positive things happened.

During my tenure and Governor Fashola’s, Lagos state recorded improvements in all aspects of our collective existence, from public health to public sanitation, from education to social services, from the administration of justice to the cleaning of storm and sewage drains. Businesses, large and small, invested, hired millions of workers and thrived.

All Lagosians were to fully participate and justly benefit from the social dividends and improvements wrought by this plan. From the common labourer to business leaders, to professionals and our industrious civil service. We all were to be partners in a monumental but joint enterprise. None was to be alienated. None was to be left out. And none were to be pushed aside.

This is especially true for those who contributed so much to our development, whether as a business leader who has invested heavily in Lagos, the homeowner who struggles to pay his fair share of taxes or as someone employed in the hard work of keeping our streets and byways clean so that others may go about their daily tasks unimpeded. I make no pretence that the master plan is perfect. It can always be fine-tuned.

However, whenever a government departed from this plan without a compelling reason, the state and its people have borne the painful consequence of the improper departure.

To ignore this blueprint for progress in order to replace it with ad-hoc schemes of a materially inferior quality contravenes the spirit of progressive governance and of our party. Such narrowness of perspective does not bring us closer to our appointed destination; it takes us farther from that destiny.

For reasons unknown to me and most Lagosians, we have experienced such deviations from enlightened governance recently. This trend is that which most concerns me as the primary nears. We must arrest this trend before irreparable harm is committed against the people and their future.

For the record, let it be known that I shall vote in this primary because I see it as one of extreme import to our state and our party. Just as I shall vote, I equally urge all party members to do so. We must vote in a manner that returns Lagos to its better path, the one that promises a just chance for all to enjoy the fruits of our prosperity.
We must always pursue our goal of a Lagos energised by creative dynamism, tolerance of others, and guided by a leadership capable of extending a collegial hand to all stakeholders, far and wide.

I am encouraged by the emergence of a candidate in this primary who has served the state in senior positions in my administration, the Fashola administration and even in the current one. While possessing a wealth of experience and exposure, he is a young man endowed with superlative vision and commitment.

Most importantly, he understands the importance of the blueprint for development. He esteems it as a reliable and well-conceived vehicle for the future development of the state. He also knows the value of reaching out and working with others in order to maximize development and provide people with the best leadership possible.

With people like him at the helm, the state will write the proper history for itself. When the final word is given let it be said that we want all Lagosians to look to the future with the hope and optimism that our best days remain before us and not behind us.

We walk into this primary strong and confidently believing in the right course we are to take. We shall emerge from this primary even stronger and more confident that we have taken that course by returning Lagos and our party to their finest path.

BIG STORY

JUST IN: Yahaya Bello Pleads Not Guilty In Alleged N110bn Fraud Case

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Former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has pleaded not guilty to the 16-count charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over his alleged involvement in a N110 billion fraud.

Bello was arraigned on Wednesday before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.

The former Kogi governor had been declared wanted by the EFCC in April 2024.

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

Alleged N110bn Fraud: Yahaya Bello Arrives FCT High Court For Trial

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Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi, has arrived at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja for his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Bello is expected to be arraigned over an alleged fraud amounting to N110 billion.

The ex-governor was arrested by EFCC operatives on November 26.

In April, the commission declared Bello wanted after multiple attempts to arrest him were unsuccessful.

In September, Bello responded to the EFCC’s invitation, accompanied by Usman Ododo, the current Kogi governor.

Bello and Ododo were at the EFCC’s Abuja office car park, but Bello was not taken in on that day.

On August 20, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment.

Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, later alleged that Bello withdrew $720,000 from Kogi’s coffers to pay his child’s school fees in advance.

The anti-graft agency also filed a 19-count charge against Bello over alleged money laundering.

However, the arraignment had been delayed due to the former governor’s absence.

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BIG STORY

JUST IN: Again, Police Arrest Speed Darlington During Show In Imo State

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Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested Nigerian musician Darlington Okoye, popularly known as Speed Darlington, in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.

The singer’s counsel and human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, confirmed the arrest in a post on his official X page on Wednesday.

Adeyanju revealed that his client was detained while performing at a show in Owerri, just days after returning to Nigeria earlier in the week.

He wrote, “Our client, Speed Darlington, a.k.a AKPI, has been arrested by the Nigeria Police in Owerri at his show upon return to Nigeria.”

However, the exact reason for the singer’s arrest remains unclear at the time of filing this report.

It is worth noting that the Nigeria Police had previously arrested Darlington over allegations of cyberstalking fellow musician Damini Ogulu, better known as Burna Boy.

Darlington was initially arrested in Lagos, then transferred to Abuja, where he was detained by the IGP’s Intelligence Response Team in the Guzape area of the city.

The musician, who faced accusations of cyberstalking Burna Boy, was later released on bail days after his arrest.

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