The Oba of Benin, HRM Ewuare II has urged Godwin Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of All Progressives Congress (APC), the two main governorship contenders to admonish their supporters to maintain peace ahead of the Edo state September 19 poll.
This was just as he enjoined them to take a cue from former President Goodluck Jonathan who “conceded defeat, picked up his telephone to congratulate the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, so as to quell violence from dissenting supporters.”
The royal father said the cooperation from the candidates will go a long way to douse the political tension and avert any planned violence prior, during and after the election.
Oba Ewuare gave the charge when he received the governorship candidates, Governor Godwin Obaseki, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and party chieftains in his palace on Tuesday.
The meeting is geared towards committing the political leaders to peaceful poll, following rising political violence in the state.
According to the monarch, “Members of the same family can quarrel, but there must be resolution and that is what I want us to achieve today.”
“I look at you all as family, as part of the palace family and I cannot have all of you fighting against one another.
“I have been habouring a whole lot of unhappiness and the state has been in the news for sometimes for the wrong reasons,” he stated.
The candidates pledged their support for peaceful poll, adding that they will take the message back to their supporters.
