The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has appealed to the people of Lagos State to be calm and eschew any act that can lead to a breakdown of law and order.
This is even as the former Lagos State governor stated that he would accept the outcome of the presidential poll, whether favourable or not.
Tinubu’s plea is coming in the wake of his loss to the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in Saturday’s presidential election.
In the 20 local government areas making up the state, Obi polled 575,524 votes to win Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Ojo and Alimosho.
Tinubu, on the other hand, garnered 573,001 votes from Agege, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Mushin, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland and Surulere.
Despite winning two more local governments in the state than the LP candidate, Tinubu still lost the election to Obi on the number of votes won by 2,523 votes.
The result came as a big blow to many APC supporters in Lagos who had earlier anticipated an early victory for the former Lagos State governor.
But, in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by APC Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu pleaded for calm and orderliness among the residents of the state.
According to him, the outcome of the election in Lagos where the Labour Party won the presidential election should not be a source of provocation saying that the beauty of democracy is that people have a right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
The former Lagos State governor condemned any form of violence against people of any ethnic group in Lagos
Tinubu expressed serious concern over reports of violence in parts of the state especially reported attacks on some traders of Igbo origin.
The APC candidate further said that as a democrat he is bound to accept the outcome of any election whether favourable or not.
He said, “The fact that the APC narrowly lost Lagos State to another party should not be the reason for violence. As a democrat, you win some, you lose some. We must allow the process to continue unhindered across the country while we maintain peace and decorum.”