As the people of Ondo State prepare for Saturday’s governorship election, Yoruba communities in some parts of the country have appealed to the electorate in the state to avoid a repeat of the violence that erupted between Michael Ajasin and Akin Omoboriowo during the 1983 election.
The President General-elect of the South-South, South-East Yoruba Council, Chief Adekunle Alabi, who made this plea while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Monday, expressed the need for the people of Ondo State to embrace peace during the exercise.
Recalling how lives and property worth millions of naira were lost during the politically motivated violence that erupted in the state 33 years ago, Alabi warned that a repeat of such incident could affect the nation’s democracy.
Alabi, who emerged the president general-elect of the council after an election in Port Harcourt on Saturday, urged politicians in Ondo to play by the rules of the game.
He also pleaded with the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to be neutral during the governorship election so as to avoid serious agitations that could affect the safety of the people.
“The people of Ondo should embrace peace and ensure that the governorship election is violence-free. I also urge them to avoid a repeat of the violence that erupted between Michael Ajasin and Akin Omoboriowo factions in 1983.
“INEC and security agencies should do their work properly; they should be neutral and with God, we believe the exercise on Saturday will be free and fair,” Alabi stressed.