A group, Masses Concern Alliance (MCA), has urged traditional rulers in the country to eschew partisanship ahead of the forthcoming general elections scheduled for the first quarters of this year.
According to the group, the unbridled partisanship of some traditional rulers in the country were not in any way projecting the institution in good light, saying, if the situation were left unchecked, the monarchy would be dragged into the mud.
A statement signed by the Secretary of the group, Comrade Ayo Durodola, made available to newsmen in Lagos on Monday, stated that its call was premised on the need for traditional rulers in the country to stay as respected arbiters between political gladiators participating in the electoral process.
Specifically, the group chided the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Babatunde Akiolu, who recently stated that no other party would win any electoral contest except the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the statement was preposterous and unnecessary.
Durodola, who also described the endorsement of APC by the monarch as unfortunate, also averred that traditional rulers in the country must behave and be seen as fathers to all shades of politicians.
He said, “We of the Masses Concern Alliance note with disgust and disappointment, the merging nauseating body language and unbecoming utterances of some of our royal fathers in recent times as the elections draw nearer.
“Contrary to their high offices, prominent monarchs are now openly partisan and even go as far as publicly endorsing the candidates of their preferred political parties. A saddening case in point is that of the foremost traditional ruler, the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Highness, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, who, in the full glare of the media, endorsed a particular governorship candidate of a particular party.”
The group also carpeted the monarch whom it accused of casting aspersion on the candidates of other political parties, saying, such utterances brought the esteemed and revered traditional institution into dishonor and ridicule.