A Civil Society Organisation, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, has urged residents in Osun state to carefully vote for candidate that could endear development to the state in Saturday’s governorship election in the state, saying Osun must not be handed to charlatans.
Addressing journalists during its monthly State-of-state in Osogbo on Wednesday, Dr Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli disclosed that the affairs of the state at this time demand a leader with certain qualities to deliver success amidst scarce resources.
While condemning accusations and counter accusations among some political parties over some violent trend in the state, he charged residents to pay close attention to the track records of candidates before casting their votes.
“In recent times, we have also been involved in voter education, guiding citizens of the State towards patriotic voting decisions. We believe that the current State of the affairs of Osun State imposes a certain quality of leadership on the State. A leader who will lead Osun at this sort of time, must be one with strong mental alertness, high capacity for fiscal management and a strong capacity to deliver success despite serious limitations of resources.
“We have therefore consistently advised the people of Osun to pay close attention to the track record of each of the candidates presenting themselves for election. Osun is at a time in her history, when we cannot afford to gamble with leadership. We cannot afford to hand the State over to charlatans at this critical period.
“Citizens must therefore interrogate the plans and programmes of each of the candidates and decide the best person in whose hands they feel the State will be safest. It is not a time for irrelevant emotions; it is a time for deep reflection and rejection of any candidate that lacks the understanding of the issues at hand and the best way to manage them.
“We are aware of the narratives by supporters of some of the candidates participating in the election. Understanding the incompetence of their candidates, these supporters are spinning the narrative that if they win, they will ensure that they constitute cabinets made of accomplished individuals to run government. This is not only dangerous for our State presently as leadership demands a top-bottom approach, it is also dangerous for the future of the State as it sets a bad precedence for quality of leadership.
We must vote for candidates with proven capacity first who can provide visionary leadership and then ensure they bring on board equally capable members of cabinet when they eventually get into office. We cannot afford to vacate the need for high mental capacity in the person who would head government.
“We encourage Osun people to go to the polls with this in mind – Osun requires a leader with high mental capacity and enviable track record; we handing the collective destinies of our dear State to this person and must ensure they understand the enormity of this task”, he said.
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