Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, on Tuesday, said his administration was committed to strengthening and entrenching delivery of democracy dividends at the grassroots.
The governor, who spoke in Akure at a sensitisation workshop for political parties and election stakeholders, said that this would be done by institutionalising democratic representation at the grassroots.
Aiyedatiwa added that he would continue to uphold the principles of effective representation, accountability, and the rule of law at the grassroots.
The workshop, tagged “Election Stakeholders, Grassroots Democracy, and Good Governance,” was organised by the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC).
Aiyedatiwa, represented by his deputy, Mr. Olayide Adelami, said that the rescheduled local government election would hold on Jan. 18, 2025.
He stated that dividends of democracy must reach people at the grassroots in order for them to feel the impacts of government.
“As critical stakeholders, we must take the collective responsibility of coming together to promote a peaceful, inclusive, and transparent process in the upcoming local government elections.
“This theme is very apt because Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) states that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed, a position that was recently affirmed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“We must applaud the Ondo State Electoral Commission for its unwavering commitment to guaranteeing democracy at the grassroots.
“ODIEC is doing this through its pursuit of conducting free, fair, credible, and transparent elections by re-adjusting its schedule of activities and bringing about stakeholders and political engagement, and even for this sensitisation workshop, among others,” he said.
The governor said that the meeting was to ensure good governance at the grassroots level.
“We are by this meeting promoting good governance as the process of measuring the concerns of the public on how public institutions conduct public affairs, manage public resources, and guarantee the realisation of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, with due regard to the Rule of Law,” he said.
Aiyedatiwa assured that the state government would continue to make provisions for the needs of the commission as the law and available resources allow to enable it to uphold its independence and discharge its statutory duties in the overall interest of the state.
Also, the ODIEC Chairman, Dr. Joseph Aremo, recalled that the election was to have been conducted on Dec. 16, 2023, but was postponed to Feb. 17, and later to July 13.
Aremo said that the conduct of the election was further postponed indefinitely due to the non-compliance of political parties with electoral guidelines and processes before the announcement of the new date.
“The intention of this workshop is to ensure that all the key players play according to the rules. More importantly, we want to entrench democracy.
“The key players are the political parties, civil societies, and security personnel.
“We want to ensure that they live up to expectations and do the needful because we aren’t happy that we’re talking about rescheduling the election.
“We know that the election is fixed for January, and we want to ensure that there is optimum and massive participation.
“The election is going to be free, fair, credible, and transparent. We want our people to know that democracy is second to none,” Aremo added. (NAN)
