…as non-indigenes take to the streets
Thousands of protesters again stormed the streets of Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Thursday, in protest against the de-listing of
Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) as Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate for the state.
This time, the protesters, under the aegis of Ondo State Non-Indigenes Association, carried placards and bombarded the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Akure. They later trooped to other flashpoints, saying they would sustain the exercise until justice is done.
The non-indigene protesters, drawn from Hausa, Igbo, Ibiobio, Igala, Ebira, Kanuri and other ethnic groups, carried placards with inscriptions like ‘Ondo State people say no to removal of Eyitayo Jegede’s name’, ‘No Eyi, no election’, Igbo Political Platform requests return of Jegede’s name’, INEC is no longer fair’, and ‘We say No to Federal Government Interference.’
Speaking on behalf of the Association of Hausa and Arewa Community in Ondo State during the protest, its secretary, Alhaji Babangida Issa, said the Hausa wanted Jegede to contest for governor because “people love him all over.
“We need peace to reign everywhere in Ondo State because we are here to do our business and since this man is the person the people everywhere want, we can’t afford to hit our heads against the wall.
“Apart from that, he had told us that he wanted to integrate us into the business plan of his government; so that’s why we are here. We want his name restored,” Issa pleaded.
Speaking in the same vein, the leader of the Igbo protesters, Madam Florence Kachukwu, said all Igbo in Ondo State would boycott the next election if Jegede’s name is not listed.
“You can see Igbo men and women from the 18 local government areas gathered here. So no one needs to be told how much love our people have for this man, Jegede,” she explained.
The INEC had on October 27, substituted the name of Jegede with that of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, claiming it was in obedience to the order of an Abuja Federal High Court.
But earlier, an Ondo State High Court had restrained the INEC from removing Jegede’s name pending the determination of the substantive suit before it.
Meanwhile, an aide to Jegede, Mr. Olumide Ogunkua, on Thursday repudiated a raging insinuation that the wave of protests was being fanned by the Akure monarch and other politicians.
Ogunkua, who was addressing yet a group of protesters at the Eyitayo Campaign Organisation office in Akure, said, “an innocent royal father or hapless party leaders should not be dragged into this issue.
“Is it the Deji of Akure that is sponsoring protests in Akungba or in Odigbo or in Bolorunduro, all areas that are not within his domain? Or when the protests erupted instantaneously at dawn and many of us politicians were still sleeping in our homes, did we sponsor them from our dreams,” Ogunkua asked.
Speaking too, the PDP State Youth Leader, Hon. Adebayo Abayomi, urged the protesters not to allow their genuine protests to be hijacked by trouble makers, assuring that “by the grace of God, we will triumph in the legal battle we have entered to seek redress.”