Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has said the antecedents of prominent candidates in the forthcoming presidential election should be the evidence of their capacity to lead the country.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, the governor spoke on Friday at the 16th Jesus Festival Dinner of the Ibadan Anglican Diocese held at the Ibadan Civic Centre, Agodi, Ibadan.
Governor Akeredolu charged the people of Nigeria to keep the debate on equity and justice alive for peace to reign in the land.
While reiterating that the next president must come from the south, he said competence and integrity should be the criteria for representation, adding that the recent debate on representation on account of faith is most unnecessary.
The Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for setting the country free from the evils of embarrassing tales of assassination, thuggery and ballot snatching in past elections.
He said the President is determined to bequeath a legacy of electoral integrity to the country, adding that Election results are becoming more credible with a reduced volume of election petition cases in the courts.
He said: “As Christians, we must not only be prayerful. We must adopt proactive measures in our bid to protect ourselves against any evil design. We must be vigilant and ready to challenge all actions which threaten to relegate our collective interest to the background.
“In the same vein, we must be wary of the antics of the cunning and deceitful who may wish to exploit the challenges to advance their destructive designs.
“In as much as we encourage full participation of Christians in politics, our involvement must not be used to create disaffection among the various ethnic and religious groups in the country. We must resist the attempts by some elements to use religion to perpetuate the crisis.
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“Christians are yet to come together to elect representatives who must vie for political offices. Any individual aspiring to serve in any capacity should project his or her strength of character rather than hide under an omnibus but dubious forum to appropriate our collective rights for personal consideration.
“The recent debate on representation on account of faith is most unnecessary. Competence and integrity should be the criteria for representation.
“All those who do not wish to be ruled by persons of dubious character should endeavour to be active in the days ahead. Let all those with their PVCs vote for candidates of their choice. All candidates should be put to the strictest proof of their claims.
“Anyone who exhibits any shred of doubt should be rejected roundly. The antecedents of prominent candidates in the forthcoming presidential elections, and even ALL elections, should be evidence of capacity. The manifesto belongs, largely, to the party.
“We must do more than criticism in the next elections or be ready to be ruled by those with no enviable pedigree. We must participate or be damned.
“We must tell all self-appointed spokespersons of the Christian faith to leave partisan politics for the practitioners and concentrate on the works for which they are called or appointed.”
The governor said the President has not allowed partisan interest to becloud his sense of fairness.
“On the whole, there is a pervasive feeling of improvement in the electoral process. The country can still do better than what is obtainable now. We are at a point where all of us must resolve to take more than a passing interest in what affects our general interest as citizens of the country.”
“We must resist the temptation to stand aloof while others determine our collective destiny as a people. We must keep the debate on equity and justice alive for peace to reign in the land,” the Governor said.
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