LAGOS—LESS than 10 days to the general elections, Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, yesterday, warned Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu not to disenfranchise him and the rest of his family.
Speaking on the delay encountered in collecting his Permanent Voters Card, Adams, in a statement by his special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, said he is yet to receive his PVC, several months after registration, saying the delay is suspicious.
He said: “I think it is suspicious, and I feel bad that as I am speaking to you now, I am yet to receive my PVC, and likewise my wife and the rest of my family.
This is not good for us as Nigerians. It portends grave danger for our democracy and the nation in particular. Remember, the whole world is watching, especially, at a time when elections are a few days away. I am saying this not because I have any preferred candidate in the coming elections, but because it is my right and that of other Nigerians to vote and be voted for, and I know many Nigerians would have been disenfranchised as a result of INEC’s failure to make PVCs available to the electorate.”
Meanwhile, religious leaders in Osun State have urged INEC, security agencies and the media to be neutral, fair, just and transparent in their conduct before, during and after the polls.
Addressing a joint press conference in Osogbo, yesterday, the Catholic Bishop of Osogbo, Most Rev. John Akin Oyejola and Chief Imam of Osun, Sheik Musa Animasahun noted that peace is crucial to success, hence the need for all stakeholders to pursue peace.
They warned politicians who after they have failed in the political arena would return home with cock and bull stories colored with religious sentiments in order to cheaply win, which they could not, to desist.
In his welcome address, the General coordinator of Justice Development and Peace Makers Centre, Rev. Father Peter Akinkunmi noted that with unfolding occurrence of political violence in some states in the country, it becomes imperative for JDPMC to organise a forum where the stakeholders in the coming election will rob mind to ensure a violence free elections.
