Fashola Charges Nigerians To See 3 Election Days As Sacrifice
With seven days to go before the first in the series of elections to elect new leaders, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Saturday urged Nigerians to dedicate the three Saturdays on which elections will hold in April as days of sacrifice to quality leadership at all levels being offered by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
Governor Fashola who spoke while addressing a campaign rally held at Douala street junction in Apapa, added that the whole process of electing credible leaders will only take three days which will determine what heights Nigeria would attain in the next four years.
“The whole process of electing credible leaders will only take place in the next three Saturdays and those three Saturdays will determine what we get for the next four years. It is therefore not too much to sacrifice the three days by making sure we all turn out to vote on those days,’’ the governor said.
While sensitising party members, supporters and the populace on the need to vote and protect their votes at the campaign rally in Apapa, Governor Fashola said “Nigerians must use their votes to empower themselves.’’
The Governor added that the state government has constructed the Calcutta, Warehouse, Kofo Abayomi and Itapeju roads while many schools have also been completed.
He said government will construct a shopping mall which would be similar to the one recently commissioned in Surulere so that residents of the area do not have to travel to Victoria Island to do their shopping.
Governor Fashola said the design has been completed while construction would soon commence.
He said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is responsible for the poor state of roads in Apapa which was originally designed to be a Government Reserved Area, GRA, by the colonial masters because they abandoned the area.
‘’All oil producing countries the world over convey their petrol, diesel and kerosene using the rail, but the PDP government in Nigeria cannot make use of its rail and is busy using tankers to convey petrol on the roads. This is putting considerable strain on the roads in the area. Now the Apapa- Oshodi Expressway is simply impassable,’’ he said.
He said if the PDP manages the Nigerian economy well, the country can produce more goods which will enable companies and industries make moré money from export than mere importing which does more damage to Nigeria’s economy.
Governor Fashola said in 1999, the Nigerian naira exchanged for about N80 to one dollar but today, the same one dollar exchanges for N156, thus making life very difficult for the average Nigerian.
He emphasised that for now, kerosene sells for N165 per litre which has made life very expensive for the poor man. He said the PDP is desirous of putting the life of the people in reverse while the Action Congress of Nigeria if elected into power at the federal level in April will put it forward.
He said that the ACN is a party of young, brilliant and dedicated people whose sole aim is to ensure credible and accountable leadership in Nigeria and reminded the supporters that they should look out for the party symbol of a broom on the ballot papers as candidates pictures will not be displayed on the ballot papers.
Governor Fashola pointed out that Nigerians must be ready to liberate themselves by voting for the ACN whose exemplary and sterling performances in states like Lagos, Edo, Osun and Ekiti can be attested to, saying, in Lagos,’’the first step to returning me as a Governor will be by voting in the ACN candidates beginning from the National Assembly polls on Saturday.’’
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that elections into Senate and House of representatives will hold on Saturday, April 2, 2011 while the Presidential polls will hold on April 9 with that of Governorship and House of Assembly scheduled for April 16.
INEC also announced that it would use the Modified Open Secret Ballot System for the April polls which would allow voters to remain at the voting centres for counting after the election.
The commission also said that accreditation for the election would commence simultaneously nationwide from 8a.m. to 12 noon followed by voting which would end at exactly 4pm.
In his address, the Lagos State Chairman of the ACN, Chief Henry Ajomale urged party members to ensure that they get to the polling centres as early as 7am for the accreditation, adding  that the voters must stay at the polling units until the votes are counted as a way of forestalling attempts by anyone to manipulate the results.
ACN flags were presented to ACN senatorial candidate for Lagos Central, Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu, House of Representatives candidate for Apapa Constituency, Mr Babatunde Adewale Jimoh, House of Assembly 1, Mr Mufutau Egberongbe and Prince Muyiwa Jimoh for Constituency 2.
Among the dignitaries who attended the event were First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola, Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Sosan, members of State Executive Council, leaders and members of the Arewa, Igbo and other non-Yoruba  Communities in Apapa and representatives of the Lebanese Community among others.
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