Oladimeji, who denounced the destruction of the billboards across the state capital, cautioned in a statement made available to newsmen that “the ugly development is not welcome because it is an invitation to anarchy and violence.”
The federal lawmaker said in the statement he personally signed, that “electioneering campaign and elections should not bring about the wanton destruction of property and violence,” and advised that “genuine politics should be about service to humanity, it is therefore not a do or die matter.”
He said “the attention of the security agencies has been drawn to this development,” and noted that “the reason is to urgently nip it in the bud so as not to lead to chaos and inter-party occurrence.”
Oladimeji maintained that “there is the need to caution the perpetrators of this to forestall a situation where it will degenerate,” pointing out that “Ekiti State is a homogenous society where election should not tear people apart.”
He said: “All my billboards except one were destroyed on October 16, 2018, the day the current government was inaugurated. INEC lifted the ban on electioneering campaign on November 18, 2018. My billboards were erected in the evening of the same day.
“Within 24 hours, vandals have started destroying them. This continued till Wednesday, November 28, 2018. Resorting to the destruction of other people’s billboards is a sign that the perpetrators are jittery and incompetent and are afraid of defeat.
“Nobody has a monopoly of violence. We cannot continue to do this and expect peace to reign. They should not force those at the receiving end to react. However, as a peace-loving people, we will continue to toe the oath of peace.
“That is why we have petitioned the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Department of State Services (DSS) and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to caution those behind this and also charge everyone that peace must reign especially during the coming general elections.”
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