FASHOLA DENIES PACT WITH LP, VOWS TO OVERRUN OPPOSITION PARTIES

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Monday denied the rumour that he had a pact with the Labour Party at the national or state level before his endorsement as the sole candidate for Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) .

Fashola, who dispelled the rumour at the commissioning ceremony of Digital Mapping and Geographic Information System project at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos said he never had misunderstanding with his predecessor in office, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to warrant him contemplating to seek re-election to office through the Labour Party, noting that he was a strong member of ACN and would remain in the political fold.

The governor vowed to overrun any candidate from the opposition parties, saying the flag-off of his campaign in the state at the weekend confirmed his popularity and acceptance by Lagosians, who he said had thrown their weight behind him.

Fashola also denied rumours that he was fronting for some Labour Party (LP) candidates, contesting elections into the state House of Assembly, adding that those spreading the falsehood had mischievous intentions to malign his name.

There have been speculations that Fashola was sponsoring some of the members of the House of Assembly who were denied a return ticket to the House at the primaries for backing Fashola in the heat of the reported rift between the governor and Tinubu last year.

His words: 'The event at the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) rally on Saturday has proven to our opponents that we are the party in control of the state and as a result of that they are scheming, saying some Labour Party members are supporting Fashola.'

'I dissociate myself from anybody using my name to campaign for anybody, who is not a card-carrying member of the ACN. We are going all out there to defeat all the parties, anybody who is voting for Labour Party is voting against the ACN and is voting against me.

'We are going all out there to defeat them. Anybody who votes for the Labour Party in the guise that he is supporting ACN is voting against us but hiding under the guise that Fashola is supporting Labour Party, using my name to gain access to people.'

Dwelling on the imperatives of the Lagos Geographic Information System, he said the system would transform the way things were done in the state, using the best technology available to manage land and plan the growth of the state.

'This project, like every other one that we have embarked upon, created work for diverse persons of different ages and skills, Professors, land surveyors, pilots, boatmen, young persons, who acted as enumerators, all got employed and rewarded during the project,' he said.