Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has urged Nigerians not to vote for any presidential candidate with a “dubious character” in the 2023 election.
The governor of Ondo urged voters to investigate the backgrounds of the prominent presidential candidates vying for the presidency.
“Anyone who exhibits any shred of doubt should be rejected roundly,” Mr Akeredolu said on Friday at a dinner in Ibadan, Oyo.
He added;
The antecedents of prominent candidates in the forthcoming presidential elections, and even all elections, should be evidence of capacity. The manifesto belongs, largely, to the party.
All those who do not wish to be ruled by persons of dubious character should endeavour to be active in the days ahead.
Mr Akeredolu, who also serves as chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, supports Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidate (APC).
Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos governor, has been embroiled in corruption allegations with questionable proceeds, and speculations about his alleged age falsification continue.
Mr Akeredolu, a political ally, was appointed in September as the South-West Zonal Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.
Peoples Gazette published a series of damning reports in November 2020 on Mr Tinubu’s corrupt enrichment through the questionable Lagos tax infrastructure and Alpha Beta, syphoning billions of naira to shell companies.
The Gazette also published bank documents demonstrating how Alpha-Beta transferred questionable funds received from the Lagos government to other companies linked to the APC presidential candidate, such as broadcaster TVC and Lagos metro bus providers.
Furthermore, Mr Akeredolu urged Nigerians to use their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to vote for their preferred candidate in the 2023 election.
He also stated that the people must actively participate in the electioneering process to ensure that the best candidate emerges.
Let all those with their PVCs vote for candidates of their choice. All candidates should be put to the strictest proof of their claims.
We must do more than criticism in the next elections or be ready to be ruled by those with no enviable pedigree. We must participate or be damned, Mr Akeredolu added.
Noting that some of the candidates were playing the religious and ethnic cards, the governor stated that competence and integrity should be the criteria for representation.
He stressed that the recent debate on representation on account of faith was unnecessary.
“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,” he added.
Mr Akeredolu said, “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.
The recent debate on representation on account of faith is most unnecessary. Competence and integrity should be the criteria for representation.