The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the October 31 Lagos East senatorial by-election, Tokunbo Abiru has appealed to the party faithful and leaders in the senatorial district to use the forthcoming by-election to prove the voting strength of Lagos State to the entire country.
Abiru, former commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, has also pleaded with the party faithful to go from community to community, house to house and local council to local council, convincing about two million registered electorate in Lagos East to vote the APC and his candidate in the next bye-election.
He made the appeal at a meeting with the APC leaders in Epe Division on Monday, promising them people-oriented representation and assuring them that he would always put people and party first if and when elected.
The meeting, held at the residence of a Governance Advisory Council (GAC) member in Epe, Akanni Seriki, was attended by the Vice Chairman of Lagos APC, Kaoli Olusanya; the husband of Ogun State Deputy Governor, Bode Oyedele, and a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Wale Raji, among others.
After the meeting with the party leaders, Abiru had another meeting with the Council of Lagos State Ijebu Traditional Rulers at the palace of the Aladeshonyin of Odo-Noforija, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja, also in Epe Local Government Area.
The monarchs, who were at the council meeting, include the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi; Oloja of Epe Land, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun; Olubeshe of Ibeshe, Oba Rasheed Ogunsanya and 15 others.
While he appealed to the monarchs and their subjects to support his candidacy for the by-election, he challenged the APC faithful to prevail upon the “decided and undecided” electorate in Lagos East to vote for the APC and its candidate.
Abiru, the immediate past group managing director/chief executive officer, Polaris Bank Limited, told the traditional rulers that voting the APC in the by-election “is a decision no resident of Lagos East will ever regret,” reeling out programme of action he had mapped to make a difference if elected.
He reminded the traditional rulers that the INEC “has already scheduled our by-election for October 31. It is only six weeks away. We need your support to win this by-election. We also need the support of your subjects to vote for my party and me on the day of the election.”
According to him, “We must use this by-election to show the strength of APC not only in Lagos East, but also in Lagos State to the entire country. We must reach out to those who have decided for our party and those who have not decided for our party. We must prevail upon them all to vote for us massively.”
He, thus, promised to represent the APC and the people of Lagos East, Lagos State and indeed Nigeria with integrity, commitment and passion leveraging all the experience, competences, knowledge and relationships he has acquired over three decades as an economist, chartered accountant, banker, commissioner for finance, senior banker and CEO.
He also promised to focus on the welfare of his constituents in Lagos East and use the position of a senator, his energy and resources to ensure their empowerment, prosperity, security, welfare and well being.
He said that he would work with the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu “to ensure completion of all infrastructural projects in Lagos East. With his support too, Mr. Governor will initiate new projects in Lagos East in line with his agenda.
“Likewise, I will work with the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government to ensure the completion and reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Ikorodu-Sagamu highway, Epe-Ikorodu road and Epe-Ibeju-Lekki expressway, among others.”
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Oloja of Epe Land, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun commended the APC for putting forward a quality candidate, who served in the banking industry and public service in different capacities for over three decades with untainted record
The monarchs urged the senatorial candidate to put the interest of the people first at all times. Collectively, the monarchs prayed for Abiru that he would emerge victorious in the forthcoming by-election.
