BY: News Peddlers
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| Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Jandor |
Saheed Ademola (Kusenla III), the traditional ruler of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom, has declared a three-day Oro rite for non-indigenes and women from midnight to 5:30 a.m., including Saturday's governorship and state assembly elections.
The monarch announced in a memo to the residents of Ikate-Elegushi that movement to perform the Oro rite in the community would be restricted from Wednesday to Saturday.
Residents in the community claim the curfew has a political motive and will further disenfranchise women and non-indigenous people from voting on election day. Others complained that it would stifle commercial activity in the area.
Temitope Oyefeso, the monarch of the Ikate Kingdom's special assistant on media affairs, confirmed that an Oro rite is taking place in the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom.
"Yes, an Oro rite is taking place in the Ikate kingdom. As a result, the Elegushi community council decided that residents and visitors should stay in their homes from midnight to morning from Wednesday to Saturday," Mr. Oyefeso told the Peoples Gazette.
Mr. Oyefeso denied that it would disrupt election activities on Saturday, saying, "We are not saying people should sit at home during the day like they have in other places."
"Elections are held during the day, and by morning, we will open the roads for people to come," he added. “It is a customary rite. Unfortunately, it has arrived at this time. It is an annual event, and this is not the first time it has occurred. We are not interfering with any processes."
According to him, the Oro rite will bring peace to the community, and it occurs in all Lagos communities.
He explained that non-indigenous voters registered in Elegushi will vote, emphasizing that "they will not leave the house to vote by 2:00 a.m., so they should be in their house."
"Voting begins at 8:00 a.m., and there is a police curfew in effect until midnight on election day. We are not going above and beyond what the police have done. " It will just start two days earlier," explained the monarch's spokesman. "People should stop speculating or being mischievous about the rites; they are not interfering with the process of the election. Residents have the freedom to move around from the morning until 11:30 p.m."
The Lagos Police Spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, was contacted by People Gazette about the situation.
"Do you want to talk about rumor or do you want to talk about facts? I'm not relying on hearsay. They have complete freedom to say whatever they want. I will not speculate," Mr Hundeyin stated.
The State Security Service spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.
In the Eti-Osa local government area, President-elect Bola Tiunbu of the All Progressives Congress was defeated by Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Mr. Obi received 42,388 votes, while Mr. Tinubu received 15,317.
Meanwhile, just days before the governorship election, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has stepped up his campaign.
Mr Sanwo-Olu is one of the candidates running for governor, along with Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, Funso Doherty of the Africa Democratic Congress, and Abdulazeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party.
(People Gazette)