ACN Endorses Fashola For Second Term

Ahead of its governorship primaries which is scheduled to come up before January 15, 2011, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lagos Chapter, Wednesday endorsed the incumbent Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), for a second term as Governor of the State.

In an endorsement  speech after  a Stakeholders’ Conference, the immediate past Governor of the State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the incumbent Governor still remains the best man for the job.

Giving the final endorsement before thousands of party stakeholders at the Acme Road, Ogba Party Secretariat venue of the conference, Asiwaju Tinubu declared, “With the honour bestowed on me by the Action Congress of Nigeria and in agreement with all our party leaders throughout the State and at the National level, I am presenting to you the final endorsement and re-election of Raji Babatunde Fashola as Governor of Lagos State. I am telling you to go and return him unopposed as the only ACN candidate that we have endorsed”.

He noted that in the last two years, there has been rumours and unfounded stories about his relationship with Governor Fashola pointing out that those who did not know how or where he knew the Governor fabricated their own theories to explain and support their stories.

Describing Governor Fashola as the best man for the job, Asiwaju Tinubu said, “If you have a child whom you put through school and among 36 students, he got between one first and third positions, you must celebrate”.

“But there is no Politics without conflict, without twists and turns. There will be conflict of ideas, conflict of priorities, conflict of agreements. It must be debated and argued and resolved upon. This is the foundation I left behind; that is the structure I built; that is the standard I created; that is the success part I cherish and that is the principle I embarked upon”, Asiwaju Tinubu said.

He recalled that when he first brought out Governor Fashola for endorsement for the first term, it created a lot of rancour among members of the party most of who are his friends. According to him, “Many of my friends became my enemies; they argued and some rained curses on me”.

“But the Party structure told me one thing; Bola Tinubu, you are our leader; wherever you go we will go with you. You believed in me. You said no matter what, if you tell us this man is good he is good. We fought the battle and we fought it well. When I was introducing him, I told you this is the best man for the job. Today, we have become a reference point. Today we have grown from one to four. We are not saying we have not made mistakes, but we have made tremendous progress”, Asiwaju Tinubu said.

He thanked all the Party leaders and all the delegates whose collective agreement has endorsed the incumbent Governor for a second term adding that the endorsement will undoubtedly bring more joy and better life to the people of Lagos.

In his acceptance remarks, Governor Fashola thanked Asiwaju Tinubu and all leaders and members of the Party for the confidence reposed on him pledging that he would not take their confidence for granted.

“I remember the first day I was given the mandate, I promised never to let you down; never to let the Action Congress of Nigeria down and never to let the people of Lagos down. As you give me this sacred mandate and endorsement, I carry this flag with a lot of humility and with full consciousness of the responsibility that it imposes and I pray to God that I will not let you down”, the Governor said.

He declared, “It is a momentous opportunity to enjoy the confidence of a man who risked everything so that I could serve the State.

The Stakeholders meeting was attended by the Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan, leaders of the party and elected delegates of the party.