Prince Dapo Abiodun
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has described the fresh mandate given to him by the people of the state in this year’s Gubernatorial Elections as a call to a renewed hope not just for Ogun State, but the entire nation.
The governor attributed his victory at the March 18 election to the power of the Almighty God and the benevolence of the people of the state and assured that he would continue with people’s-oriented programmes that will make life abundant for the people.
In his remarks when he, his deputy, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele and 25 members-elect of the State House of Assembly received their Certificate of Return at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) State Headquarters, Magbon, Abeokuta, the governor appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling environment for free, fair, credible and transparent elections in the country.
He also assured that his administration would work towards consolidating the gains made by his administration in the first term just as new ideas that would benefit the people would be injected into the system.
“Now that elections have come and gone, I call on all my opponents to come and join hands with our administration to build the future of this State’’, the governor said.
He thanked the security agencies and staff of the Electoral Commission, for working tirelessly to ensure peaceful conduct of the elections in the State.
Also speaking at the presentation of the Certificate of Return, INEC National Electoral Commissioner in charge of Ogun, Osun and Ondo States, Prof. Adekunle Ajayi, said the presentation was in accordance with the provision of the Electoral Act 72, section 1, which stipulated that certificates should be issued to winners within 14 days after elections.
He said the elections were highly anticipated and the electoral body made use of technology to improve the process, noting the elections saw a high number of people, especially the youths, taking part.
While pointing out that the lessons learnt in the course of conducting the elections would be turned into a working document to serve as a standard for subsequent elections, the INEC National Commissioner, said this would make the electoral body to be one of the best electoral umpires in the world.
Prof. Ajayi thanked the people of the state for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves during the elections, maintaining that the security agencies, Nigeria Peace Committee, Development partners, the media and all relevant stakeholders, all worked towards the success of the elections.
