The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said he is confident that citizens of the state will re-elect him during the 2023 election based on his experience of governance.
Sanwo-Olu stated this during the Sunday Politics programme aired on Channels Television on Sunday and monitored by The Nigeria Standard.
In response to the question about the viability of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Dr. Olajide Adediran, and his running mate, Funke Akindele, the governor noted that the politics of Lagos State is not a circus and requires competent hands in order to steer the ship of the state.
He said, “If you have an emergency at 3 am, who would you call, what are your chances? Will you call a man that has the experience that has gone through the trenches before, that lives with it, that understands what the issues are and that appreciates what challenge you have even at that 3am? Or will you leave your chance to a man who does not know where the dial is and does not know what the issue of governance is?
“This is Lagos, this is an informed audience. This is not a tea party. We are talking of real governance and the lives of over 20 million Nigerians bigger than the economy of Ghana or Kenya which is in itself a country. It is not a circus, it is a real thing and I don’t want to spite anyone because I have respect for all of the candidates that have emerged and the candidate of the particular party you are talking about.
“But how do you begin to start, what about his pedigree? You can’t run a business of 100 people but you want to run an economy. The governance of Lagos is not a trial and error, you need to hit the ground running. Lagosians have seen the experience and they will vote for a man that will roll up his sleeves to keep the city safe, the biggest and safest city, that provides opportunities for people, and that is Babajide Sanwo-Olu.”
Sanwo-Olu also explained that the state has psychologically recovered from the effects of the #EndSARS protests, but the infrastructural recovery would take a much longer time
He added, “I can say that we have recovered psychologically, but we are still working out the infrastructural recovery because infrastructure is not something that you can finish in one day, so the infrastructural renewal is still an ongoing budgetary allocation. For example, regarding the major court in Lagos, the Igbosere High Court, we are planning a 15-storey edifice that will take about 60 courts at once. It will be an imposing structure we are bringing back and this will take time.
“However, in terms of the psychology of the people, I believe that the city and myself have learned and understood our lessons because it was collateral damage that ought to have had nothing to do with it. In the last two years, people are more discerning and they can indeed see the reality of a one-day perception and a two-year perception.
“We are not taking anybody or anything for granted and conversations are going and what they want is not about what has happened but what this government is doing to improve each and every one of us, and what opportunities the government is providing for young people.”
