Ondo Poll Outcome Will Shock Politicians – Primate Ayodele

— 30th October 2016

…Says judiciary’s travail, proof of his predictions

By ENYERIBE EJIOGU (enyeribee@yahoo.com)

The founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, has said that Nigerians should not have been shocked by the Gestapo style crackdown on justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Federal High Court and some state High Courts by the Department of State Services, DSS, as what happened was foretold.

He also said that the outcome of the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State would demonstrate the resolute will of the people to ensure that their choice would prevail in the poll and thereby further clip the wings of political kingmakers by voting for specific individuals irrespective of the party.

Ayodele who spoke with Sunday Sun reporter recalled his predictions on 2016 made in December 2015, when he said that the judiciary would face a travail following the indictment of some judges.

Back then, the primate had said: “Let’s hope and pray that we do not lose any judge or that lawyers don’t go on strike. Some judges will be indicted.”

In what can easily be interpreted as a fulfillment of the prediction, the DSS on October of 7 and 8, this year, raided the homes of some judges in a brazen manner and arrested nine of them on allegation of taking shocking sums of money, in both local and foreign currencies as bribe and other related misconduct.

But what has happened so far, is just a tip of the iceberg as Ayodele emphatically said that judicial officers should expect more stormy seas ahead of them: “There will continue to be trouble in the judiciary. A lot of what will come out of the judiciary will not promote the image of the country.”

Turning to the November 2016 Ondo State governorship election, he said that the people of Ondo have to be very prayerful, saying that what will happen is a big signal to APC.

“There will be riots and battles as a result of the election. In the Ondo election, people will not vote according to party lines. Rather votes will be cast for particular individuals irrespective of the party they belong to as members. That is also what will happen in subsequent Nigerian elections. People will insist on individuals. They will defend their votes.”

Beyond the Ondo election, Primate Ayodele said that the relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Senate would become more acrimonious.

His words: “The Senate will have serious battles with Buhari. The government will take several decisive steps to rubbish a lot of people politically. There are a lot of forces working against this government. The government wants to do well but it is hindered by hidden forces working against it. That is why the government must take good care to neutralize the problem. Until they do it, the administration cannot move forward. That is why the government is not getting solutions to many things. There are forces working against it. They have to properly identify the forces, otherwise …”