By Adedapo Adesanya

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has promised to continue to deliver dividends of democracy to residents of the state after getting re-election.

On Monday morning, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of Saturday’s governorship elections in Lagos after it was announced that he polled a total of 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, who scored 312,329 votes.

Professor Adenike Oladiji, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUTA) Akure, the Returning Officer, during the announcement, said the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Abdul-Azeez Adediran garnered 62,449 votes to come a distant third in the election.

She listed votes garnered by other political parties in the contest as A (800), AA (904), AAC(627), ADC (6,078), ADP(2833), APM (884), APP (259), BP (616), NNPP (1,583), NRM (340), SDP (1,746), YPP (461) and ZLP (1,635).

She put the total number of registered voters at 7,060,195; total accredited voters at 1,182620; total votes cast at 1,173,631, total valid votes at 1,155,678 and rejected votes at 17,953.

Prof. Oladiji said: “I declare that Sanwo-Olu Babajide Olusola of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law by scoring 25 per cent in two-thirds of the local government areas in the state and also scoring the highest number of the vote cast, is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected.”

The APC won in 19 Local Government Areas of the state; the LP won in one LGA, while the PDP did not win any.

In his remarks, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, noted that some of the allegations of manipulation levelled against him were a fallacy.

Mr Agbaje, however, said that such allegations were not strange in a clime like ours and decried the poor turnout of voters.

Assessing the process, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji, Lagos state Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), decried the pockets of violence experienced in some parts of the state as well as vote buying and apathy.

He urged the candidates to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and accept the outcome of the elections in good faith.

Mr Mobolaji urged INEC to improve on the shortcomings in future elections.

Regardless of this, Business Post spoke to voters over the weekend who were disenfranchised on account of their ethnicity by elements that were believed to be working for the ruling party, with tribal slurs and stereotypes hurled at them.

On his part, the re-elected governor on Monday said his re-election for a second term has reaffirmed that Lagos has chosen competence and experience on the march to true greatness.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said this at the Lagos House Marina while giving the victory speech for his re-election, following the official announcement by INEC.

He said that elections were over now, and governance must continue, and the dividends of democracy must continue to be delivered, as there must be no break and no time off.

According to him, his government will keep all the promises made to the people of Lagos state.

“Lagosians, you did not just vote for Babajide Sanwo-Olu. You voted for a greater Lagos. I promise that together we shall achieve this. This is a promise that shall not be broken. A greater Lagos shall be ours.

“Let me boldly and proudly say that we are already well on the way to that greater Lagos, and we now have four more years to join hands to advance in ways that will pleasantly surprise even the most sceptical amongst us,” he said.

“Lagos is what it is today because of each and every one of you, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, gender, or age.

“We are a vibrant and thriving hub of commerce, finance, entrepreneurship, innovation, and culture because of the diversity that has come to define us over the decades and the centuries. Thank you,” he said.

He said that during the course of the campaign, sadly, there was a lot of divisive rhetoric used, as some tried to make the elections about ethnicity and religion when in fact, they should only have been about capacity, competence, and experience.

“We saw hateful and hurtful ethnic profiling by fellow citizens – which is totally out of place for us as Lagosians, the proud residents of West Africa’s pre-eminent melting pot.

“I want to recognise and salute all of the multitudes of residents who refused to succumb to those who sought and still seek to divide us with their unguarded and inciting comments.

“Unfortunately, there are reports of skirmishes in some local government areas wherein some citizens were reported to have been injured. We strongly condemn these reprehensible incidents – that is definitely not who we are as a people.

“The relevant law enforcement and security agencies have been directed to investigate these breaches of the law and to ensure that those found culpable face the full wrath of the law.