MY ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

APM Governorship Candidate of Lagos State
After the Primaries/Consensus Affirmation at ECWA Multipurpose Hall, Montgomery Road, Yaba, Lagos Nigeria

May 28, 2026

Protocol

1. Distinguished members of the delegates, respected traditional rulers, the Press, religious leaders, the INEC representatives, the Security Agencies, community leaders, party leaders and members, fellow APM candidates, captains of industry, leaders of youth, women and students’ groups, representatives of the business community, ethnic nationalities, international communities, my campaign organization (LACO) and my dear fellow Lagosians.

2. Fellow Lagosians and our party leaders and Members, I stand before you today with a heart full of gratitude and a spirit burning with purpose. I wish to express my profound appreciation for the singular honour and privilege you have bestowed upon me, to lead our great party, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as its Governorship Candidate for the 2027 election. I am truly humbled and deeply excited by this mandate.

3. Let me begin by congratulating all our victorious candidates for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate. To every aspirant who worked tirelessly, sacrificed resources and time, and dreamed of serving Lagos through this party I salute your courage and patriotism. This is not a moment for personal loss or division. It is a call to higher service. Show the spirit of sportsmanship and unity. The people of Lagos need all of us, working together, not for personal gain, but for the collective good of our state.

4. I must specially thank the leaders and members of our alliance, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State. I thank all Local Government and Ward Executives who stood firm. You led us meritoriously into this alliance. Despite the desperate shenanigans and legal obstacles orchestrated by those who fear real competition, those conniving with the ruling APC to keep us off the ballot and jeopardise our collective future, you remained resolute and found a path to victory. History will remember your courage.

5. I express the profound gratitude of all APM candidates in Lagos State to our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, whose leadership has continued to inspire all of us, looking at his transparent service to the people, and massive infrastructures revolution ongoing in his state, a model that worths emulation. I equally thank his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed, the National Chairman of our great party, Alhaji Dantalle, and all national and state leaders for their courage, wisdom, and determination in steering APM in the right direction.

6. Today, we have demonstrated that while governance in Lagos has been strangled by arrogance, disconnection and impunity, democracy is alive and well within the Allied Peoples Movement. In APM, members are free to express their views, nurture ambitions, and build consensus through transparent and inclusive processes. APM is not just another party, it is a powerful movement forged through hard work, immense sacrifices, and an unyielding determination to rescue Lagos from misrule and return the state firmly to its rightful owners, the people of Lagos.

7. For too long, the APC has governed our state with reckless impunity. What they proudly call “development” has brought unbearable hunger to our homes, grinding poverty to our streets, and homelessness to thousands whose houses were demolished without compassion, alternatives, or due process. Corruption has been institutionalised. Flooding destroys lives and property every rainy season. Power outages cripple businesses and households. Healthcare is unaffordable for the masses. Our youths roam the streets jobless, frustrated and hopeless. A painful sense of exclusion pervades, whether you are an indigene or a settler. Lagosians have suffered enough.

8. That is why I took the bold decision to join this movement. APM is the government-in-waiting, a frontline opposition party in Nigeria, a formidable coalition force built on integrity, competence, transparency, and genuine people-centred leadership. We will fiercely resist every attempt by the ruling APC to subvert our democratic will. Enough is enough.

9. I congratulate my fellow aspirants who had wished for this ticket. You are moved by the same love for Lagos. This is not the time for celebration or division. No one has been defeated. We are one family. We must now unite with fierce urgency to rescue our beloved state from the suffocating grip of a disconnected, arrogant, and failing APC government.

10. I thank the Consensus Committee, all leadership organs of our party, stakeholders, volunteers, and every single APM member for your dedication, patience and sacrifice. With this consensus sealed, the real work of redemption begins.

11. We shall be guided by our comprehensive governance blueprint — Àtunto Èkó 1.0: Re-Engineering Lagos for Inclusive Prosperity — our bold RESET LAGOS Agenda 2027. This is not another document of empty promises. It is a practical, actionable roadmap with clear pillars, measurable targets, timelines, and key performance indicators. We will deliver accountable leadership that empowers every ward, every local government, and every resident to realise their God-given potential.

12. Economic Rebirth & Job Creation:
Lagos has been turned into a city where a tiny elite prospers while millions sink deeper into poverty, sharing contracts among their circles and cronies. Multiple taxation, hostile policies and corruption have chased away investors and killed small businesses. Under Àtunto Èkó 1.0, we will aggressively remove all bottlenecks to investment, create Public Private Partnership, other enterprises, and adopt Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA) to quickly stimulate Lagos Economy and reduce borrowing. We will attract massive local and foreign capital, provide real incentives for SMEs, invest in Agribusiness to make food sufficient for Lagosians, built our blue/ocean economy on a large scale, develop industrial hubs across all IBILE zones, invest in Independent Power Project (IPP) and create hundreds of thousands of productive jobs. Our youths will no longer be idle, they will be empowered, skilled and employed. Lagos will once again become a true engine of prosperity that works for every single Lagosian.

13. Housing & Urban Renewal:
The era of reckless, heartless demolitions that destroy livelihoods and dignity without genuine alternatives ends on Day One of our administration. We will launch a massive, people-friendly housing revolution, delivering decent, affordable homes on a scale never seen before. We will renew communities with compassion, dignity and justice so that every Lagosian, rich or poor, can have a secure roof over their head.

14. Education & Human Capital:
No great city can rise when millions of its children are condemned to sub-standard education. We will overhaul the system completely, build world-class infrastructure, motivated and well-paid teachers, modern curricula with emphasis on technology, entrepreneurship, STEM, vocational skills and innovation. We will fund our State owned Colleges, Technical and Vocational colleges, and State owned Universities such as LASU, to emerge as a destination for quality educational output that can add to human resources need of Lagos, and contribute to world Knowledge Economy. Under my watch as the Governor of Lagos State, every child, regardless of background or location, will have a real fighting chance to succeed. A child of nobody will become somebody in the new Lagos.

15. Healthcare & Social Welfare:
Quality healthcare must never again be a luxury for the rich. We will prioritise accessible and preventive healthcare, fully equip our hospitals including Primary, Second and Tertiary health care centers in all the IBILE division of Lagos, recruit and train more medical personnel, and build a robust social welfare system that genuinely lifts families out of poverty instead of abandoning them to brain drain and JAPA.

16. Security & Justice:
Crime, fear and impunity have skyrocketed while the rule of law has been weakened. We will strengthen all security agencies with introduction of State, community policing and Amotekun, provide modern equipment, continuous training, improved welfare and seamless coordination. We will restore justice, protect lives and property, and ensure that every resident, indigene and settler alike, sleeps with both eyes closed in a safe and secure Lagos.

17. Infrastructure & Sustainability:
Flooding, chronic power outages, collapsed roads and environmental degradation have become the painful identity of daily life in Lagos, which has endangered the lives and properties of Lagosians. We will deliver reliable power through aggressive public-private partnerships, construct functional drainage systems, build 4th Mainland Bridge, connect every zones with inter community trains, BRTs befitting of a Megacity, build quality roads in the main Street, inner cities, to solve traffic congestion unresolved for several decades, and create a cleaner, greener and more sustainable Lagos for this generation and those yet unborn.

18. Inclusivity & Unity:
Lagos belongs to those who calls it a home and will preserve its culture, heritage, and the indigeneous right, it ultimately belongs to all those who will respect the law of the land, and not desecrate it. We will run a government that unites rather than divides, embracing every ethnic nationality, faith and origin in the true spirit of “One Lagos, One Destiny.”Fellow Lagosians, under Àtunto Èkó 1.0, we will rebuild our state from the foundations and give Lagos back to its people. We will create a Lagos of opportunities, not obstacles; a Lagos of justice, not exclusion; a Lagos where leadership serves with humility, integrity and total commitment.

19. I am ready. Ready to serve with every fibre of my being, with competence, humility, transparency and total dedication. Ready to listen to your voices every single day. Ready to work day and night. Ready to deliver tangible results that you can see and feel.

20. In the coming weeks and months, we will roll out our detailed programmes and campaign plans, and actionable timelines. Where the APC offers empty promises, arrogance and propaganda, APM will deliver renewed action, visible transformation and genuine hope.

21. Let us now close ranks completely, go out there and seek for massive vote for APM, our party on Ballot. We are the people, we are the Party Lagosians have been waiting for, for a very long time, a sincere and committed midas touch that will turn Lagos to a modern and prosperous Megacity. Let us build this movement into an unstoppable force. I appeal to all men and women of goodwill who believe in a better Lagos, join us. Together, let us birth the new Lagos we deserve, prosperous, inclusive, secure, equitable and truly united.

Support Àtunto Èkó 1.0, Join me, Let us Reset Lagos to re-engineer Lagos for inclusive prosperity.

Thank you.

God bless you all, God bless Lagos State and Federal Republic of Nigeria.