Prince Dapo Abiodun who is the Ogun State Governor has finally approved the constitution of an Ad hoc Committee of the state’s Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Commission.
A statement from the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, named the Chief Imam of Ikenne, Alhaji Kehinde Husayn Lawal as chairman and Prof Kamal Balogun as Amirl-Hajj respectively.
Others appointed to serve as members include Dr. Kola Olawunmi, Sheikh Iskeel Lawal Sugar, Sheikh Rufai Sile and Imam AbdulGaniyu Ejalonibu.
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The rest are Imam Uthman Fasasi Akeukowo, Imam AbdulWasiu Adeniyi Akinboyede, Alhaji Tunde Oladunjoye, Alhaja Bisola Aliu, Dr. Kamilu Akano Raji and Alhaja Yemi Kudirat Rabiu.
The ad hoc commission will supervise the 2022 Hajj operations by the state pilgrims, the statement concluded.
Governor Dapo Abiodun,has also approved the committal of six convicts on death row to life imprisonment and also released 40 inmates as part activities to commemorate the 2023 Democracy Day.
The governor disclosed this while speaking at the June 12 commemorative anniversary and Nigeria’s Democracy Day, held at the M.K.O International Stadium, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Abiodun explained that the committal to life imprisonment and release of the convicted inmates is in accordance with the provisions of Sections 212 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended) and Sections 4 and 5 of the Ogun State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy (Establishment Law), Laws of Ogun State 2006.
Abiodun, who called on Nigerians to draw strength from the 1993 general election and make the 2023 exercise even better, equally advocated
The governor who canvassed stringent punishment for violators of due process in elections, declared that people’s ballots must count and be respected in 2023.
The governor noted that the struggles of June 12 as orchestrated by late MKO Abiola gave birth to the seamless democracy Nigeria has enjoyed in the last 29 years.
He emphasised that “only by upholding the tenets of democracy and ensuring its sustainability that we can truly honour the memory of those ideals that Chief MKO Abiola and others stood and died for”.
The governor, however, urged the people to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards, saying, the process to a free, fair and credible election begins with voters’ participation in the registration exercise.
