Ondo poll will serve as a litmus test for 2019 election - Buhari

– President Muhammadu Buhari has directed security agencies to do their utmost in ensuring violence-free elections in Ondo and Rivers states

– Buhari says the forthcoming elections in Ondo and Rivers state will serve as a litmus test for the general elections in 2019.

– The president laments the rate of violence during the last elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers states

President Muhammadu Buhari says the 2019 elections should be forgotten if a peaceful election cannot be successfully conducted in one state. accuses Wike of planning another bloodshed in Rives Speaking on the backdrop of the forthcoming election in Ondo state and River states, Buhari directed the security agencies to do their utmost in ensuring violence-free elections in the respective states. The president made the statement on Monday, November 8, at a state dinner in Benin, the Edo state capital.

According to a release by the senior special assistant to the president, Garba Shehu, Buhari said the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Ondo and national and state assembly rerun elections in Rivers will serve as a litmus test for the general elections in 2019. Protesters storm Abuja over Rivers election rerun

‘‘What happened in the last elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers State disturbs me a lot. I think we should go beyond these actions. Why do we kill each other? Putting tyres on people and setting them ablaze,” asked the president. ‘‘I have told the law enforcement agencies, if we can’t conduct an election in one state then we should forget about 2019,’’ Buhari said.

Meanwhile, the crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has deepened after the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, snubbed two meetings scheduled to resolve the controversy trailing the September 3 governorship primaries in Ondo state won by the former president, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu. According to the Guardian, a meeting was scheduled for last week Tuesday to resolve the disagreement over the Ondo primaries, but Bola Tinubu, who is considered central to the issues, tactically evaded the last Tuesday meeting on the excuse of going abroad for a medical treatment. The national leader of the party will also not be available to attend the other meeting scheduled for today, November 8, called at the instance of the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.