GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, on Wednesday, implored eligible voters in the state to exhibit good conduct and decorum as they perform their civic responsibility during this Saturday local government parliamentary poll.
He also declared Thursday and Friday, January 25 and 26, 2018 as the public holiday to enable Osun residents to prepare and participate in the election.
Aregbesola in a statement endorsed by his media adviser, Mr Sola Fasure maintained that the election must reflect the people’s determination and hope to elect good, credible and trustworthy leaders and representatives with the mandate to steer the affairs at the grassroots.
While calling on the residents to conduct themselves in an orderly and lawful manner, he asserted, “against all odds, this election would be conducted into 389 wards in the State of Osun. I am therefore calling on all eligible voters in the state to enthusiastically come out to perform their civic duties without let or hindrance in electing credible and trustworthy representatives”.
This statement reads “the local government system is a critical level of administration that brings the government closest to the people. The election holding on Saturday this week, therefore, is a springboard for advancing the cause of broad-based, all-inclusive governance at the grassroots that will politically empower the people and provide the platform for accelerated development”.
“So, as we go to the polls on Saturday, residents are charged to shun politicians with the penchant for violence and brigandage and they (voters) must conduct themselves in an orderly and lawful manner and project the best of the Omoluabi persona at the polls.
“We should all say ‘Never again’ to those who have corrupted the political system and plundered the treasury of the nation for their own selfish interest. Our focus should be on entrenching democracy in its best-known tradition through the election of those who have well represented the people in the past and have discharged themselves creditably and honourably”.
“This is the first of its kind in the federation and a landmark feat, which all of us must be proud of and be prepared to guide and preserve. The state government has made strident efforts since 2013 to hold this election, but the opposition has thrown all kinds of legal stumbling blocks on the way. That it is holding this time around is a watershed achievement and an indelible legacy the All Progressive Congress (APC) administration in the state led by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will leave behind “.