Fashola Urges Lagosians To Shun Violence During Election

With less than 24 hours to the first set of elections in the April 2011 polls, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has urged all inhabitants of the state to continue to live together peacefully and shun violence during the elections.

Governor Fashola who made the appeal in a special broadcast to the people of Lagos said if there is peace in Lagos, it reinforces the prospects of peace across Nigeria.

“In the same vein, any violence or disharmony in Lagos will inevitably instigate negative, multiplier effect all over the country. I am proud to say that our political campaigns in Lagos in 1999, 2003, 2007 and now 2011 have largely been peaceful and decorously organised.

“This progressive chain has its roots in the focused and dynamic administration instituted in thestate since the advent of this fourth republic that helped in the promotion of the culture of enlightenment and the deliverance of dividends of democracy,” he explained.

“Elections in Lagos are always a beauty to behold. They are carnivals of singing, dancing, jokes, joy and intense canvassing of pertinent issues. It is, of course natural that the competition for power in a critical state like Lagos will always be serious and competitive,” Governor Fashola said.

He said despite the pockets of disturbances by a microscopic minority of misguided individuals, the people of the state have always competed for public office with decency, maturity and tolerance.

Governor Fashola explained that in Lagos State, they believe fervently in the rule of law, constitutionalism and democracy, adding that government can only be for the people if it is genuinely of the people and by the people, adding that there is no alternative to the will of the majority expressed in free, fair and credible elections as the only genuine basis of a valid social contract between the leaders and the people.

“Much more than ever before, we have a responsibility to sustain and even improve on this our culture of political peace and harmony in Lagos State. Yes, we will exercise our rights  as citizens to profess divergent political opinions or hold differing partisan positions while in the final analysis, we are bound together by a common fate as inhabitants of a dynamic mega-city in a country of great potentials.”

He thanked the security agencies who have partnered so effectively with the administration in Lagos to maintain peace and safety in the state and urged everyone to continue to discharge their responsibilities with an admirable sense of patriotism and dedication during the elections.

The governor reminded those who may be contemplating disturbance during the elections that the Electoral Act 2010 in sections 119,128, 129 and 131 prescribes very stiff penalties for conducts such as disturbances, violence and unbecoming actions at polling stations and treat such as criminal offences.

He asserted that the state government remains ready to bring the full weight of the law to bear on all those who doubt its resolve to act.

Governor Fashola also called on all staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos to discharge their statutory obligations faithfully during the conduct of the elections.

All that is demanded of you at this critical period is for you to be fair, just and equitable in the discharge of your duties. This will go a long way in ensuring that no one has any cause to disrupt the peace of the state or perpetrate violence.

The Lagos State helmsman urged all eligible Lagosians to have confidence in the electoral process and to perform their civic responsibility, adding that it is also their duty to stoutly defend their votes which is their power.