A pressure group operating under the aegis of the Leaders After God’s Own Spirit Initiative — A New State — has warned that political decisions surrounding the upcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections should not lead to war in Lagos State. The group’s convener, Pastor Bolaji Akinyemi, made the remarks at a news conference in Lagos on Saturday, emphasizing the need to douse ethnic and religious bigotry among politicians and their followers ahead of the polls. According to Akinyemi, the group’s priority is not politics but the peaceful coexistence of people across ethnic and religious divides.
Akinyemi, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Project Victory Corps Initiative and convener of the Apostolic Roundtable (an independent platform for pastors), urged politicians to cease all “drumbeats of war” in the name of politics. “Political decisions should not lead us to war,” he said. “During this election we have seen dynamics in Lagos being thrown up: the dynamics of tribe, like the Igbo wanting to take over Lagos, the Yoruba must not allow them, and all kinds of narratives.” He expressed doubt that a peaceful election could take place on Saturday unless the growing narrative of division is extinguished. “It is important that we bring everybody together and discuss the way forward. We must, as leaders, adequately carry the people along,” he added.
Akinyemi warned against a Lagos where the Igbo cannot stay, where markets are burnt, and where progress is sabotaged. “We have lived with each other as good neighbours and that must continue. We must not allow anybody to throw a spanner in the wheel of progress that we have made as an example to the rest of Nigeria,” he said. He appealed to the youth not to follow politicians who incite violence, calling for a beautiful atmosphere in the state. He also called for politicians to exhibit self‑lessness, maturity and independence in leadership.
Decrying the purported endorsement of some candidates by Christian bodies, Akinyemi argued that such actions contradict the culture of Christian organisations. “We need to reach a point where individual Christians can sit with our Muslim brothers to discuss how to live peacefully together, without allowing political and church leadership to compromise Lagos’s peaceful existence,” he said. “It is the connivance of political leadership and church leaders that is pitching us against each other.”
Regarding Lagos politics, Akinyemi noted that the group agrees the state needs an independent governor, free from any godfather’s apron, to realise every resident’s dream. In his remarks, Pastor Femi Ferguson, President of the Pentecostal Family Fellowship Network, cautioned against any act capable of igniting tribal violence. Ferguson urged politicians to consider the consequences of instigating people against one another. “I don’t know why politicians are sowing seeds of discord among the people of Nigeria because of elections and money. Let the politicians stop this,” he said. “We should be talking humanity. What we are asking for is for the righteous man to emerge. When the righteous is on the throne, the people will rejoice. We know the righteous by their antecedents. We don’t want any bloodshed again in this country; we have had enough. We love ourselves. We want a new Nigeria, we want a new Lagos. Lagos is our California and nobody can take it away from Yoruba and the Aworis,” Ferguson added, speaking as a former Publicity Secretary of PFN in Lagos State.
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