Olubadan of Ibadanland, Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade ll has charged the presidential hopefuls to go into serious research and consultations on how to give birth to a new Nigeria.
The monarch, who congratulated Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Peter Obi (Labour Party), Rabiu Kwankanso (NNPP) and others, said they afford everybody a sense of belonging which he said should start manifesting in their electioneering campaigns.
Reacting to the election of Tinubu and other presidential candidates in a statement by his media aide, Oladele Ogunsola, the monarch commended the various political parties for the successful completion of their delegate conferences that produced the presidential flag-bearers.
According to him, following the conclusion of the delegate conferences of the APC at the Eagle Square, Abuja, where Bola Ahmed Tinubu was elected as the party’s presidential candidate, I congratulate him and all other presidential candidates of the other political parties that would contest the 2023 presidential election.
The presidential election will be conducted in the first quarter of next year.
Read also: How Tinubu defied odds to clinch APC ticket
The monarch, who was a senator of the Federal Republic between 1999 and 2003, noted that the time of their contestations for the number one position of the country “is very crucial and strategic in view of the current situation of the country. The job at hand is not for the lily-livered or unprepared minds. The task ahead is enormous and highly demanding in terms of intellect, political sagacity and ability to genuinely coordinate for result-oriented purposes.
“To say that our country is at the crossroads is an understatement, we need a true, committed, passionate and compassionate leader, who would be ready to tackle headlong the myriad of challenges confronting us as a nation and capable of making vain the labour of our past heroes.
“You will all agree with me that the people’s hope and expectations for the dawn of a new era come 2023 are very high and whoever God will grant the grace to lead the country by then must be very ready, prepared and imbued with goal- getting ability to meet the people’s aspiration. All these must start to reflect in your various electioneering campaigns which I urge should be issues-based”, Olubadan stated further.
Expressing confidence in the ability of some of the presidential candidates who were said to be political giants and veterans in the management of human and material resources, the monarch said the nation is blessed with formidable personalities across the various political party lines that possess the wherewithal to navigate the country out of the present quagmire.
The Olubadan also charged the presidential candidates to avoid attack on personalities during their electioneering campaigns as well as other utterances that could further put a wedge between them and their supporters. Rather, he said they should concentrate on how they would sincerely and genuinely tackle the problems confronting the country.
