Anti-Tinubu Text Messages Spread Around Lagos As Fashola Distances Self
LAGOS, April 05, (THEWILL) – Some unsolicited text messages being sent randomly to mobile phone users in Lagos may have rekindled the cold war between Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and his predecessor/godfather, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
One of the messages reads: “Fashola says no to Tinubu’s juju oath swearing, let us all pray for Fashola's protection from the evil Tinubu godfather”, and some insiders in the ACN camp have told THEWILL that the content of the messages seem to have renewed the friction between both politicians, who only sorted their differences a couple of weeks ago.
However, Fashola has moved swiftly to distance himself from the messages and quell nerves. In a press conference addressed today at the lobby of the Mainland Hotel in the Oyingbo district of Lagos, the governor urged “all right thinking members of the public to ignore the negative text messages being sent around by some agents of destabilization about a rift in the Action Congress of Nigeria.”
Fashola, who spoke after attending a meeting of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the Lagos Central Senatorial District, added that everyone must remain vigilant.
According to the governor, this is the destabilization, the deceit, the corruption that is the trait and character of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) posing as Labour Party, posing as all sorts of things trying to destabilize all other parties. You just saw our meeting; there is no rift in our party.
He quickly took a swipe at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party “has not told Nigerians what it will do about security, roads and housing, adding that there is a need for all Nigerians to be vigilant, wake up and listen to what the ACN is saying based on the track record of its performances in states where it is in control.
“All of these text messages of fear and deception is in their character; you can see all that they have done to themselves in all other States, with some candidates even emerging overnight. Candidates have even been removed even after the elections have been cancelled.
“All sorts of things are happening. It is the character of their mismanagement. They changed their national chairman twice in barely a year. They say their former chairman has a case to answer, were their eyes closed when they picked him.
“That is the character of a party that cannot organize its home but wants to organize 140 million Nigerians. People should ignore these text messages. They are text messages of farewell. They are going”, Fashola said.
On a report that elections might again be postponed in Lagos and some other states, Fashola cautioned that everyone should be careful about how they make use of the mass media in other not to send the wrong signals or cause confusion.
He added that in some instances, Nigerians have elevated opinions to facts, adding that he has not heard officially from INEC that there would be no elections, saying in terms of the level of preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it is imperative to adopt a wait and see posture as one week provides ample time for more planning, more rigorous detailing and control.
He noted that there is a need to understand that this is a country where the federal government “has wrecked virtually all of the infrastructures leading to a situation where what should normally be an easy challenge becomes monumental.
“When there are no roads, no rail, no electricity, so what miracle do you expect really. How do you get equipment and voting materials to far flung areas? That is why you hear that people arrive late. The transportation network has been ruined.” Is INEC supposed to perform magic and build roads overnight?”Fashola asked.