Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi has said that the traditional rulers in Osun state are worried over the rising political tension ahead of August 15 governorship election.
Ogunwusi disclosed this on Tuesday when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan led a team to his palace in Ife.
According to him, The rising political tension in Osun State had dominated hours of deliberation among the traditional rulers prior to the Chairman’s arrival.
The traditional ruler described the situation as worrisome and unbearable.
Ooni urged Amupitan to rise to the occasion as a just and fair umpire, noting that the responsibility of ensuring a free and credible election rested squarely on the Commission, as the government had provided every necessary support for INEC to discharge its duties independently.
He appealed to the Chairman to douse the prevailing tension and ensure that politicians and their supporters embraced peace ahead of the poll.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the commission said the visit forms part of activities marking Amupitan’s five-day stay in Osun State, during which he is expected to hold an Expanded Stakeholders’ Meeting and witness the signing of a peace accord by political parties and candidates ahead of the governorship election.
Earlier, Amupitan described Ile-Ife as the ancestral cradle of the Yoruba people and a historical beacon of peace and cultural unity in Nigeria, noting that the visit was both a cultural obligation and an institutional duty.
He explained that INEC, as a creation of the Constitution, is empowered to conduct elections into the offices of the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, the National and State Assemblies, as well as to register and deregister political parties, conduct referenda, and register voters nationwide.
The chairman stressed that the visit to the palace, ahead of any other engagement in the state, was deliberate, stressing that the Commission opted to travel by road rather than fly directly into Osun in order to begin its stakeholder engagements at the palace.
He described the Osun Election as a critical dress rehearsal for the 2027 general election, given its proximity to the national exercise, and disclosed that the state has 2,339,233 registered voters spread across 3,763 polling units in 332 registration areas within the 30 local government areas of the state.
Amupitan appealed to the Ooni and other traditional rulers present to use their influence to caution political actors against violence, describing elections as successful only when they are peaceful, transparent, and concluded on time.
He said the election should be devoid of rancour and should not be treated as a do-or-die affair, urging the traditional rulers to appeal to the political class and their supporters to embrace peace.
“The blood of one innocent person is not worth a governorship election. Nobody should be killed or should be threatened or should be embarrassed just because of the election,” Amupitan added.
The chairman warned against the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation, including the risk of artificial intelligence being deployed to fabricate false results, and cautioned against vote-buying and other electoral vices.