The deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Lateefat Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, has urged Muslims in the state to shun vote-buying and violence and to actively participate in elections to elect morally upright leaders.
Sowunmi-Kolapo said Muslim leaders, families and youths must recognise the importance of political participation in protecting their interests and heritage in the state.
According to her, religious leaders and members of the community should not assume that their interests would be automatically protected without active involvement in the political process.
“Let us tell our wards and our children, there should be no violence. Everybody should go out to exercise their civic rights and ensure that those they want actually emerge,” she said.
She made the call on Thursday in Ake, Abeokuta, shortly after her decoration as Grand Matron of the Ogun State Muslim Council (OMC), Egba Zone, describing the honour as a demonstration of the confidence and affection of the Muslim community.
She also cautioned against money politics, noting that politicians who distribute money during elections may seek greater favours after assuming office.
“So, everybody should ensure that this time around, they participate in the election. They shouldn’t sit back and say, ‘Oh, they will write the votes, somebody will write the votes.’ It is what you do that will count,” she added.
She urged the Muslim community to come out en masse during elections, exercise their civic rights peacefully and vote for candidates of their choice, while also canvassing support for the PDP governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu.
In his keynote lecture, the Mufti of Ilorin, Sheikh Farouq Sulaiman Onikijipa, urged governments at all levels to invest more in education, noting that it remains critical to national stability.
Onikijipa also decried the high cost of education at both private and public institutions and called on government to make education more accessible to promote stability.
Speaking on the theme, “Socio-economic Stability: A Fortress for Global Security,” he said morality must be prioritised in leadership selection.
“For us to have stability in anything, we must choose a leader who is morally upright; who will not pocket public funds or take advantage of others for personal benefit,” he said.
He called on politicians to shun campaigns of calumny and urged youths to embrace knowledge acquisition so as not to be used as tools of destruction for political interests.
Earlier in her remarks, the PDP senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, described Kolapo-Sowunmi as a community builder and moulder of greater generations for Egbaland.
She said the current political struggle is not about fighting but about reorganising the affairs of the state and not mortgaging the future of Ogun State for money.
