The Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has debunked reports that he is anti-Igbo and restated his commitment to inclusive governance irrespective of tribe, colour or creed.
The governor made this known in a statement through the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan on Thursday.
Ambode was replying to a report which said that he banned the title of Eze Ndi-Igbo in Lagos and was also planning some other moves against the Igbos and other non-indigenes in the state.
The governor was also said to have described Lagos not as a colonial settlement, but owned by the Yoruba.
But Ambode described the report as “baseless, mischievous and irresponsible”.
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He reiterated that the report was utter falsehood and a mere figment of the imagination of unscrupulous persons who concocted it to deceive the unsuspecting public.
Furthermore, he challenged the authors of the report to produce evidence of when and where he made the comments.
Ambode restated his commitment to inclusive governance which he articulated at the inception of his administration.
The statement read in part, “While we would have opted to totally ignore such crass report, we have chosen to set the records straight for unsuspecting public who might be tempted to believe such falsehood.
“For emphasis, there is no record anywhere of the governor making such remarks and we dare the faceless authors to come out with any evidence otherwise. This is certainly the handiwork of enemies of Lagos State whose sole aim is to distort the existing harmonious relationship among ethnic groups in the state,” he added.
“They have totally failed in this attempt. Besides, in this season of politics, it is expected that those seeking to gain mileage would stop at nothing and cling to any straw just to score cheap points.”
The governor urged the public to disregard the totality of the report and charged security agencies to fish out the authors and sponsors of the “mischievous” report and deal out appropriate sanctions to serve as deterrent to others.