TheCable

Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the ooni of Ife, has advised Nigerians to vote whoever they desire to be their president in the forthcoming election.

The monarch made the comment on Friday after leading south-west monarchs on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock villa, Abuja.

Speaking with state house correspondents, he said the visit was not political but to discuss developmental issues that have to do with the south-west.

The monarch: “Election is so close by and obviously tension will build. What is critical is for us to know that Nigeria is greater than all of us.

“They (politicians) will come and they will go but Nigeria will remain. We traditional rulers who are very fortunate to still be alive, we have experienced many presidents, many governors.

“A president cannot use more than eight years, that is in the constitution of Nigeria, so Nigeria is greater than the president whose maximum tenure is eight years.

“So, our message to everyone in Nigeria is that please, especially Nigerian youth, go and vote for whoever you want to vote for.

“Mr. President even said it by himself, it is not a do or die. Whatever you want to use your power of your thumb for, go ahead and do it.

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“We are not here for politics. We are fathers to all, very close to our people, the only politics we understand is politics of development. We are here to talk about development for our people in all the states of the south-western Nigeria.

“We are here to point out the good things Mr. President has been doing especially the cordial relationship with the Vice-President who is from the south-western part of the country.

“We are here to further request from Mr. President good things that we want for our various states. When you are doing good you will first of all appreciate the good things before asking for more.

“What is critical for us here is to champion development for our people. We spoke about the inclusion of youth in the current government and also women inclusion. In terms of demography of votes pattern, we know that everything rest on the shoulders of Nigerian youths, we want to see them in this cabinet.”

The monarch described the south-west as “the only zone that you can call a typical Nigeria because it is a blend of everybody, all the tribes of this nation you will find them in the south western Nigeria”.

He added: “So as result, we play pivotal role in anything that has to do with decision making in Nigeria, as a zone we are even the second largest in terms of voting demography and numbers.

“So critically south-western Nigeria plays a very vital role and we as traditional rulers we are the ones to douse the tension. We don’t pray for any tension but we are ready, we have all decided to work together to douse any tension.”