Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at two different fora at the weekend continued his sustained campaign for his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) urging Lagosians to vote for its governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, in order to sustain the programmes of the present administration.
Fashola’s campaign for Ambode thus seems to negate claims in some media at the weekend that the governor was at loggerheads with the national leader of the party over the choice of his successor.
It would be recalled that at several public fora and media interviews preceding the APC gubernatorial primaries in the state, Governor Fashola had reiterated his conviction that he would support any of the candidates produced by the party primaries adding that being product of the Lagos State Public Service
system, any of the candidates who emerged would be able to carry on the task of sustaining the rapid development going on in the State since the return of democratic governance in 1999.
Speaking at the Lagos Sea Food Festival 2014 at the Bar Beach, Victoria Island, Fashola said supporting the new candidate and the party would also ensure that the state would continue to enjoy the good governance and high performance attributes of the party which have been variously demonstrated in all the states under its control.
Noting that the 2014 Annual Seafood Festival would mark his last as Governor of the state, Fashola declared: “I urge you all to support the new APC governorship candidate; support him, support the Party and make sure that the Festival continues.”
He told the scores of fishermen and women as well as other related stakeholders at the well attended event: “if you want this to continue, you have a role to play; you have to register and you have to collect your Permanent Voters’ Card and then you can use your vote to choose what you want.
“So, if you want this Sea Food Festival to be here next year, if you want Count Down to be here next year, if you want Beach Soccer to be here next year, the only way you can get them is to vote the government which is providing these activities in Lagos, the All Progressives Congress Party. So, if you want to keep them, you must do your part. Vote APC.”
Thanking all the fishermen and women from across the riverine areas of the state – Epe, Badagry, Bariga, Eti-Osa and others – Fashola said what his administration tried to do in instituting the festival was to bring the rural fishermen and women into the city once every year as a build-up to the end-of-year activities, adding that the event is one of the series that characterise the end of every year.
Other activities that mark the end of the year, the governor said, include the Beach Soccer event, the Count Down and the Christmas festivities which lead to the New Year, adding: “I hope that you will all do what is necessary to sustain these activities.”
He paid glowing tribute to the brand sponsors of the festival noting: “they have seen a good thing and they have appended their brand and their very endearing tradition on this event. I hope that other brand partners would come up in the fullness of time and this festival will grow from year to year.
“Gradually, year on year, it is getting bigger and better. I have gone round all the stores. Our fisher-folks tell us that business has been good. People are still shopping.
“The purpose is to encourage small traders, small farmers, men and women, to benefit from the economy.
“This has not been without the support of the people of Lagos. This is what we do with your taxes, empowering people; ordinary working people, farmers, giving them a chance to earn a living so that we can equalize the distribution of wealth so that everybody can have an opportunity and be a part of this democracy.”
Highlight of the event was the Maggi Brand sponsored Pepper Soup Eating Competition which had the first, second and third winners going home with N500,000, N200,000 and N100,000 respectively.