The ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress in Ondo State on Tuesday refused to show up at the peace meeting of political stakeholders called by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Isaac Eke.
Also absent at the meeting were the Chairman of the Ondo State Council of Obas, the Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Adesimbo Kiladejo; the General Officer Commanding 323 Artillery Brigade and other registered political parties.
The President of Market Women Association, Chief Juliana Ogunsusi, youth associations and drivers’ unions also did not come for the meeting.
However, the representative of the Independent National Electoral Commission arrived on time for the meeting which was slated for 11am.
The meeting was expected to extract a commitment of peace for the general elections from the political parties as had been done in other states.
The Assistant Inspector General in charge of Zone 11, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, while reacting to the absence of the stakeholders, blamed the shift of the election dates from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 for the development.
Okoye said the meeting, among the major political parties, security agencies and other stakeholders had been fixed long before the postponement of the election, hence the low turnout of those invited.
But the PDP said it did not receive any invitation from the police to attend the meeting.
The publicity secretary of the party, Banji Okunomo, said, “We did not shun the meeting. We did not receive any invitation to attend the meeting.
“When they invited us the last time, we attended. So, we did not get any invitation to attend this one. We also promised in the last meeting that our party will have nothing to do with violence.”
He, however, said he was not disappointed as the meeting would be rescheduled to ensure broader participation by the relevant stakeholders.
The CP, on his part, said as the core agency saddled with the responsibility for internal security, it was the command’s responsibility to champion the stakeholders’ meeting in ensuring peaceful, credible, fair and violence-free elections.