Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has expressed gratitude to the people of Lagos State for voting him in as governor for a second term. He won the Lagos governorship election held on Saturday, defeating his closest rival, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, by a wide margin.
In a tweet via his Twitter handle on Monday morning, Sanwo-Olu said he was deeply humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support and trust of the good people of Lagos State.He pledged to continue to work tirelessly to deliver a better Lagos for all.
The governor thanked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a free and fair election and praised law enforcement and security agencies for their commitment to maintaining peace during the polls.Sanwo-Olu said the victory was not just his, but belonged to every Lagosian, adding that he had worked hard to live up to the responsibility of governing the most important subnational economy in Africa.
He also thanked his wife, Ibijoke, his deputy governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, and all fellow contestants for their contributions.The governor, however, expressed sadness over the divisive rhetoric used during the election campaign, saying that elections should be about capacity, competence, and experience, not ethnicity or religion.
He saluted those who refused to be divided by hateful and hurtful ethnic profiling and directed law enforcement and security agencies to ensure that those found culpable for the recent skirmishes in some local government areas face the full wrath of the law.Sanwo-Olu emphasized that what unites Lagosians is far more important and substantial than whatever differences exist among them.
He promised to do everything in his power to ensure that genuine healing takes place and that his government will continue to run an inclusive administration that delivers for all the people of Lagos, wherever they may be living.The governor reaffirmed the spirit of solidarity and togetherness that binds Lagosians and pledged to continue to work towards delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.
He concluded by saying that there would be no break in his administration’s work, and that the true Lagos spirit is a welcoming, embracing, liberal one, not a divisive, exclusionary one.