Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana, a popular Nigerian musician, has attacked Lagos State Governor and winner of the state’s just-concluded governorship election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, after the Independent National Electoral Commission announced his return for a second term as governor.
Newsclick Nigeria reports that Sanwo-Olu was declared winner of the governorship poll 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, at 9am on Monday morning took to Twitter to thank Lagosians for the chance to govern for a second term.
Sanwo-Olu wrote, “Thank you Lagosians! I am deeply humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support and trust of the good people of Lagos State. I am honored to be re-elected as your Governor and pledge to continue to work tirelessly to deliver a better Lagos for all. Thank you for believing in me.
“These elections have deeply tested us as a people. This victory is not just mine, but it belongs to every Lagosian.
“I have worked hard to live up to this responsibility of governing the most important subnational economy in Africa. We certainly could not have done this by ourselves. Thank you to the Almighty God and all of Lagos. Immense gratitude goes to our great party, APC, and our President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“During the course of the campaign, we sadly saw a lot of divisive rhetoric used. Elections should be about capacity, competence, and experience, not ethnicity or religion. I salute those who refused to be divided by hateful and hurtful ethnic profiling.”
Addressing violence that occurred in some parts of the state during the election, Sanwo-Olu said, “Recent skirmishes in some LGAs resulting in injuries are reprehensible and not reflective of who we are. Law enforcement and security agencies have been directed to ensure that those found culpable face the full wrath of the law.
“Very importantly, and this cannot be overemphasised: What unites us as Lagosians is far more important and substantial than whatever differences exist among us.
“As your Governor, I will do everything in my power to ensure that genuine healing takes place. We will continue to run an inclusive government, that delivers for all the people of Lagos, wherever in the State they may be living.”
Responding to the governor’s ‘Thank you’ message to Lagosians following his victory at the polls, Falz said, “You were not re-elected. You selected yourself. Everybody saw it unfold. You are only deceiving yourselves.”
When a tweep asked the rapper if he was “pained” over Sanwo-Olu’s victory he said, “Yes it is (pain) actually. The pain of knowing that brothers and sisters are being turned against each other in a bid to ‘win’ an election.
“Also the pain of seeing our democratic process rubbished before our very eyes.”
Sanwo-Olu polled a total of 762,134 votes, defeating his rival in the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdulazeez Adediran, who polled 312,329 and 62,449 votes respectively.