Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum and 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.
Governor Akeredolu who stated this during the 16th Jesus Festival Dinner of the Ibadan Anglican Diocese held at the Ibadan Civic Centre, Agodi, Ibadan charged the people of Nigeria to keep the debate on equity and justice alive for peace to reign in the land.
He added that the south must produce the next President in the spirit of equity and fairness.
Governor Akeredolu noted that competence and integrity should be the criteria for representation, stressing that the recent debate on representation on account of faith is most unnecessary.
‘’As Christians, we must not only be prayerful. It is important that we 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,’’ Akeredolu said in a statement made available to the LEADERSHIP Sunday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, by his chief press secretary, Mr. Richard Olatunde.
He added that, “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 clearly dubious forum to appropriate our collective rights for personal consideration.’’
Governor Akeredolu, who recalled that the political space was awash with embarrassing tales of assassination, thuggery and ballot snatching in the past, hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for setting the country free from the evils.
Earlier in his exhortation, the Bishop of Ibadan Diocese, Most Revd Dr. J.O Akinfenwa, congratulated Governor Akeredolu on his recent national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, describing it as well deserved.
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