The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, on Thursday night urged Nigerians to elect only credible leaders in the 2019 elections.
He gave the advice in Lagos, at the 1st Stakeholder’s Dinner and Interactive session of Legacy Initiative International, an advocacy group for good leadership.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the programme was: ‘Inter-Faith Collaboration in Nation-Building’.
The monarch, represented by Sarkin Sokoto, Alhaji Muazu Abubakar, urged the electorate to vote wisely to ensure that only those who could deliver got to power.
“We are already in the season of politics, and many aspirants are busy trying to sell themselves to the electorate ahead of the 2019 elections.
“I urge Nigerians to use their PVCs to vote wisely and according to their conscience in order to elect credible leaders,” he said.
Abubakar also advised non-partisan leaders to play their part to promote the emergence of credible leaders.
He called for peaceful co-existence of citizens of different backgrounds, saying it was only in an atmosphere of peace that the goals of the nation would be realised.
Another monarch, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, also called on Nigerians to vote competent and credible leaders.
Represented by Elerefe of Erefe, Oba Fayemi Johnson, the monarch also urged citizens to participate in the electoral process to be part of nation building.
He commended Legacy Initiative International for their efforts at championing good leadership in the country.
“I commend the Initiative of the group; Nigerians need to support patriotic ideas like this to promote good governance,” he said.
The monarch urged Nigerians to support the group in its quest to encourage good leadership at all levels.
In his remarks, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Gen.Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd), said many of the country’s challenges were due to bad leadership.
He, therefore, urged citizens to obtain their Permanent Voter’s Cards and elect those who would deliver the goods.
“This is the time for Nigerians to wake up to their responsibilities and vote leaders they believe could serve their interests.
“People should go and obtain their PVCs and elect those who can secure their future and that of their children,” he said.
In his speech, the Grand Patron of the group, Chief Kenny Martins, said one of the objectives of Legacy Initiative International was to moderate the interplay of political forces and interests, to make democracy work for the nation.
He said that the group was enlisting the support of leaders of the two dominant faiths of Islam and Christianity to work together and lend their integrity and experience for the development of the country’s nascent democracy
Martins pointed out that religion had a big role to play in governance, and urged all Nigerians not to allow religion to divide them in the course of nation building.
He said the group would continue to create awareness on the need to have good governance to move the country forward. (NAN)
