Famous Nigerian artist Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana, has challenged the Lagos State Governor and winner of the just-concluded gubernatorial election in the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu after he was officially back for a second term as governor by the Independent National Election Commission.
It was reported that Sanwo-Olu was proclaimed winner of the gubernatorial vote by INEC in the early hours of Monday by the Returning Officer of the governorship and state assembly elections, Prof. Adenike Oladeji, after winning 19 out of the 20 local government areas in the state.
The governor, around 9 am on Monday turned to Twitter to thank Lagosians for the opportunity to lead for a second term.
Sanwo-Olu tweeted, “Thank you Lagosians! I am very humbled and thankful for the enormous support and confidence of the fine people of Lagos State. I am thrilled to be re-elected as your Governor and commit to continue to work relentlessly to produce a better Lagos for everybody. Thank you for believing in me.
“These elections have gravely challenged us as a people. This triumph is not only mine, but it belongs to every Lagosian.
“I have worked hard to live up to this duty of running the most significant subnational economy in Africa. We surely could not have done this by ourselves. Thank you to the Almighty God and all of Lagos. Enormous thanks go to our great party, APC, and our President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“During the campaign, we tragically witnessed a lot of inflammatory speech utilized. Elections should be about aptitude, skill, and experience, not race or religion. I admire those who refused to be separated by ugly and destructive racial profiling.”
Regarding violence that happened in certain areas of the state during the election, Sanwo-Olu stated, “Recent clashes in several LGAs resulting in injuries are abhorrent and not indicative of who we are. Law enforcement and security authorities have been urged to guarantee that anyone found accountable suffers the full wrath of the law.
“Very critically, and this cannot be overemphasised: What unifies us as Lagosians is much more vital and meaningful than whatever disagreements exist among us.
“As your Governor, I will do all in my ability to guarantee that true healing takes place. We shall continue to operate an inclusive administration, that provides for all the people of Lagos, wherever in the State they may be living.”
Reacting to the governor’s ‘Thank you’ greeting to Lagosians after his victory at the elections, Falz stated, “You were not re-elected. You choose yourself. Everyone witnessed it unfold. You are merely misleading yourselves.”
When a tweep questioned the rapper whether he was “pained” at Sanwo-Olu’s triumph he answered, “Yes it is (pain) genuinely. The sorrow of knowing that brothers and sisters are being set against one other in a quest to ‘win’ an election.
“Also the sorrow of watching our democratic process rubbished before our own eyes.”
Sanwo-Olu polled a total of 762,134 votes, beating his challenger in the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdulazeez Adediran, who collected 312,329 and 62,449 votes respectively.
