Barring any hitches, the governorship election in Ondo State will hold tomorrow and, as usual, the
people of the state are expected to troop out in their numbers and choose a Governor to pilot the affairs of the state in the next four years.
Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that measures have been put in place to ensure transparent, free, fair and credible governorship election in the state.
This assurance is coming on the heels of the call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the President not to succumb to pressure by the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to intervene in the poll in favour of his party.
Like the governorship election in Edo State, conducted a few weeks ago, the stakes are also high.
Reports indicate that there are re-alignments of political forces in the state geared towards reducing the number of contestants for the election. However, three major candidates are squaring up for the spoil in the governorship race. They include the candidate of the APC and incumbent Governor of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu; the Deputy Governor of the state and candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Agboola Ajayi; and the candidate of the PDP, Eyitayo Jegede.
Nonetheless, the signs emerging from the political landscape in the state are not cheering and encouraging; they are as ominous as they are disturbing. There are reported cases of threats of violence and even vote buying, looming in the political horizon.
An election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa Watching the Vote, recently raised an alarm that it had identified six local government areas in the state it considered to be flashpoints for possible electoral violence during the election. It alleged in a report that voters’ inducement was rife in those local government areas even as it raised concern that the election might become a replay of an undesirable event, given the attitude of some political gladiators in the state.
According to the group, “While INEC has shown commitment and readiness for the election, key contenders and political actors have advanced narratives that forewarn that there would be breakdown of law and order, including alleged threats to deploy state and non-state instruments of force and armed violence”.
Another group, SING Nigeria equally expressed similar fears, and condemned in strong terms, what it described as money politics and violence, clearly playing out in the state.
The group said in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Idris Usman thus, “Ondo election is just days away and the atmosphere in the state has become tensed with all forms of violent attacks in campaigns. It becomes bothersome that instead of presenting tenable manifestos, policies on reforms needed and even positions on critical issues to the people, campaigns have been turned into a ground for a show of force by various contestants, which have clearly affected negatively the perceptible index of voters’ turnout”.
It was against this backdrop that the candidates of the political parties for the election, including Akeredolu, Jegede, Ajayi, among others, were on Tuesday made to sign a peace accord, as a way of entrenching peace in the state before, during and after the election.
Speaking at the event facilitated by the National Peace Committee headed by no less a personality than former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said, “Without peace, our deployment plans, new innovations in result management, safety of personnel, security of materials and above all, credibility of the election will be undermined”.
Besides, Abubakar had, in a statement issued in Abuja, underscored the need for a peaceful and credible election in the state, noting that, “As stakeholders, we should live up to the principles of impartiality, neutrality and statesmanship during the election”.
Furthermore, as a way of creating the enabling environment for a peaceful election, the police hierarchy in Abuja has already deployed over 33,780 personnel to the state to complement those of other security agencies expected to be on duty for the poll.
From all indications, all is now set for the election to hold as planned and The Tide is happy with the various measures that have been put on the ground for smooth conduct of the election.
However, we wish to applaud all the critical stakeholders for ensuring a peaceful, credible, free and fair governorship election in Edo State, a couple of weeks ago. We recommend that the Edo example should be replicated in Ondo State tomorrow.
We are also elated that INEC has already assured that it would improve on its impressive performance in Edo State, and conduct a transparent, credible, free and fair election in the state. There is no gainsaying that tomorrow’s poll is another litmus test for the electoral umpire. It must, therefore, do everything humanly possible to again acquit itself creditably. It should fine-tune its strategies and the electoral process and never compromise.
Again, we are utterly disturbed by the feelers emanating from the state in terms of the conduct of some political gladiators in the state. We wish to remind them that electoral contests are never warfares, where dangerous weapons are deployed to maim and kill opponents . Politics is rather a game, and never a do-or-die contest. It is, therefore, incumbent on the political actors and their political parties to abide by the peace accord they freely signed, and give peace a chance in the state.
We strongly believe that what is paramount now is the development of the state. Every other consideration must be made to take the back seat as the votes of Ondo people should be allowed to count. Nothing must be done to subjugate the will of the people.
The political chips are really down in the state and this is the time for the people to take their political fate in their own hands by massively coming out to vote for the candidates of their choice. They are expected to emulate their counterparts in Edo State who, a couple of weeks ago, defied the odds and spoke with one voice. They must vote their conscience and not sell their votes.
We also advise security agencies deployed for the election to discharge their duties with a high sense of professionalism and, like Julius Caesar’s wife, be above board in all ramifications. This, they can do by playing by the rules.
For other Ondo people, including traditional rulers, neutrality, impartiality and statesmanship are the names of the game. All hands must be on deck to support INEC to get it right. We expect a bloodless and violence-free election tomorrow.