The Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in Oyo State, Mr Mutiu Agboke, has urged elected office holders to provide quality leadership as they assume their positions.
Agboke made the plea on Wednesday in Ibadan at the Ramadan lecture organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme of the lecture was ”Duties and Responsibilities of Leaders and Followers in Democracy: The Islamic Perspective.”
According to Agboke, the topic is germane as the country is in the season of preparation for handing over, oath taking and swearing-in of newly elected and reelected office holders after the general elections.
He also called on the office holders to fulfill their promises to the people while promoting initiatives which would drive development.
Agboke promised that the commission would sustain its positive engagements with all the identified stakeholders in the electoral process.
“It is expected that leaders and followers will carry out their duties and responsibilities as mandated by the laws of the land,” he said.
The guest lecturer, Prof. M.O Abdulrahman, implored Nigerian leaders to govern with the fear of God.
Abdulrahman, who is the Chief Imam of University of Ibadan Central Mosque, stressed that only God chooses leaders.
He, however, said that leaders would account before God for the resources that were mismanaged under their care.
The cleric said that the nation would change for the better ”if we get it right with good leaders.”
“It behooves on the followers too to have attitudinal change and support their leaders to achieve the desired growth of the country,” he said.
The guest lecturer further called for regulation of sermons in churches and mosques to curb inflammatory statements.
NAN reports that some leading Islamic clerics and heads of federal establishments in the state attended the Ramadan lecture.
