11th April, 2011
Thousands of butchers and foodstuff sellers have endorsed Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State for re-election and vowed to vote for him at the forthcoming governorship polls.
The butchers and foodstuffs sellers had gathered at the Ifako-Ijaye Local Government Area home of the patron of the groups, Chief Ayokunnu Akande, for a mini rally to drum support for Fashola’s second term bid.
Speaking on behalf of the groups, the first Vice-Chairman, Mr. Bamidele Alabi, who represented the chairman, said the butchers would vote en masse for the governor and other candidates of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state.
He said there is a very large number of butchers in Lagos State and that they had decided to support the ACN by casting their votes for the party, adding that the various groups had been positively touched by the quality leadership which the administration had brought to bear in the state.
Earlier, Chief Akande, who is an ACN stalwart in the area, had said he was confident that just as the people of Ifako-Ijaye expressed their support for Fashola in the 2007 polls, they would do the same in the 2011 elections.
Addressing the butchers and foodstuff sellers, Fashola said people should expect more goodies from his administration in addition to the many meat vans that had been provided for safe and hygienic transportation of meat by butchers.
He said as registered voters, the people present at the gathering must know that they also had the important role of mobilising their neighbours, colleagues and families on the need to participate in the exercise.
He reiterated that the people must realise that whatever decisions were arrived at in terms of choice by voters, it would determine what would happen in such areas in the next four years, just as the choices made by voters in Lagos State in 2007 led to the strides recorded by the present administration.
The governor charged the people to ensure that after casting their votes, they stayed behind to monitor the counting and actual recording of the result at the polling centres before departing.
“The successful conduct of the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria will bring about its development as the country would be embraced by foreign investors as a safe haven.
“With the registered voting strength of the south west in the forthcoming elections, a massive turnout of voters to support the Action Congress of Nigeria can lead the party to victory at the residential elections,†he said.
The governor gave a commitment that once the people had gone ahead to do their bit by turning out to vote massively at the polls, all elected persons would now feel compelled to also work for them come rain or sunshine.
He also urged residents of the state to be wary of series of misinformation being peddled through text messages to innocent citizens by unscrupulous agents of destabilisation to spread fear about the elections.
“Such negative information should be treated with caution and ignored as the sponsors are faceless opponents of democracy, who are not bold to come out openly,†he said.
Among those who attended the endorsement rally were the deputy governorship candidate of the ACN, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; the Special Adviser on Housing, Mr. Jimoh Ajao; party leaders from Ifako-Ijaye and several members of the Association of Butchers and Foodstuff Sellers in the state.