This post has already been read 3918 times!
Peter Dada, Akure
Ahead of today’s governorship election in Ondo State, the European Union Monitoring Team has urged politicians and stakeholders in the state to embrace peace.
Head, EU Monitoring Observers and Political Counsel, British High Commission, Mr. Ben Jones, made the appeal during an interaction with the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), in Akure, the state capital on Friday.
Jones said the team of observers from countries drawn from across Europe was in the state to meet with stakeholders involved in the election and monitor the election process.
He stressed the need for politicians to play the game by the rules to consolidate on the nation’s democratic process.
Jones said, “We are here to consult with stakeholders, preach peace as violence does nobody any good. We are also impressed with your disposition to politics.”
Earlier, Jegede told the EU observers that INEC was not being fair to him by not postponing the election, knowing that his name was reinstated in the candidates’ list only 24 hours to the close of electioneering.
Jegede lamented that the complete list of his agents had yet to be received from his authentic chairman less than 48 hours to the election, and that it would be difficult to train them for the exercise unlike his other co-contestants.
Jegede said, “There is the need to collate the list of my agents, train them and submit their names for proper training and send their names to INEC for proper recognition. Also, the voters’ list has not been officially released to the authentic chairman and even if it has been released, do we have time to study it and make appropriate observations? What we want is for INEC to show some discretion in respect of fixing the date for election.”
While reacting to the EU team’s remarks on reported cases of violence in some parts of the state, Jegede said he had instructed his supporters not to engage in any act that could truncate the existing peace in the state.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
The post Ondo election: EU team sues for peace appeared first on Punch Newspapers.
Source: Punch News