From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has pledged the support of traditional rulers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a successful July 16 governorship election in Osun State.
A statement by the monarch’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, quoted him as stating this when he received the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in his palace, yesterday.
“I must commend the INEC for their daily introduction of technology into our electoral lives, which has made rigging almost impossible. To cap it all, we now have an electoral act amendment which complements the advancement of our leadership selection process.
“Look at the one called Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the introduction of that singular device has turned around the fortune of our dear country. With the BVAS, result of the Ekiti State Gubernatorial election was declared in less than 24 hours which has never happened in the history of our dear country.
“Luckily for Nigeria and Nigerians, we have an INEC Chairman who is patriotic and well in character. My advice for the commission and its leadership is to make Nigeria their biggest project,” Ooni said.
Yakubu lauded the Osun State Council of Obas for their roles in peacekeeping and creation of enabling environment for the conduct of elections.
“We are appealing to Your Royal Highnesses to talk to the political gladiators; the politicians and their supporters to play by the rules of the game as there can never be a credible election in an atmosphere of rancour,” he said.