Friday 13 March 2015

Yoruba Leaders Cannot Campaign for Any Candidate, Awujale Tells Jonathan


As part of his re-election bid, President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday visited the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, where the paramount ruler said it was not possible for any Oba to campaign for any candidate in Yorubaland.

Oba Adetona who received the president in his palace, pointedly told him that it was wrong for any oba to campaign for any politician in his domain.
“In Ijebu here, it is not possible for any Oba, not even in Ijebu, in Yorubaland, to go out and say vote for this, vote for that, that person is looking for trouble, but give them the opportunity to present their programme so that people can make up their minds on what to do.

“I think this is a very sound democratic principle and that is what I have decided to do, to give you the opportunity of meeting with the people.

Speaking further, the monarch said: “The people will engage you as soon as they see you as a person, how beautiful you are, or to listen to you and see if there are areas where we can work out things, and as a result this, everybody congregating here belongs to different groups. They are PDP members, APC members, APGA members among others, all of them have various interests,with different toga.

“They all want to come to the palace to meet their ruler in order to receive that important visitor in their lands and give him the honour due to him.”

He, however, said: “I am sure over the years, there has been improvement in the country but this election is full of tension, I don’t know why it is so, elections have never been like this. About 55 years, I have never seen any election that is full of tension like the one we are having now. My prayer is that God should guide us and make sure that there’s peace, harmony and tranquility in the country.”

Speaking earlier, Jonathan said he would have visited the palace earlier than yesterday, nothing his visit was to inform the royal father of the pending election.

He said within the past four years, his administration tried as a government, adding: “You know government can not complete all projects within four years, in the education sector too, we have tried across the country.”

He noted: “The problem of federal government is that Nigeria is a very vast country and you may do much and some parts of the country may not even notice what you are doing but we’ve done quite well.

“In the road infrastructure, we have tried, railway is back, we are trying to improve our terminal buildings and security environment in our airports.”

He said governance was the collective “responsibility of the executive and National Assembly, which is one of the reasons we are praying that at the end of the elections, the PDP will have the control of the two arms of the National Assembly.

“On the issue of Olokola project, there are four deep sea ports that will dominate our focus in the next dispensation, God willing, we will go through; the Olokola Deep Sea Port project, the Badagry Deep Port project, the Ibaka Deep Port Project in Akwa Ibom State and the Age Deep Sea Port project in Bayelsa State, these are the four Deep Sea Port projects that will form our major activities because we need to expand our port facilities. Lagos is congested and we need deep port projects across the country that will be viable and that will help to decongest Lagos and also increase commercial activities.

“We will partner with your sons and daughters, the issue of appointment was also raised, Ijebuland is a great land and there’s no government that will neglect the people of Ijebuland, I have to take that very very seriously,” he said.

ThisDayLive

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