‘It won’t affect elections’ — Lagos monarch clarifies as controversy trails Oro festival

The media aide of Saheed Ademola Elegushi, elegushi of Ikate, has denied reports that the monarch scheduled a traditional rite known as the Oro festival on Saturday to disrupt the governorship and house of assembly elections in Lagos.

Temitope Oyefeso, the media aide to the monarch, told TheCable on Thursday that the Oro festival was not designed to disenfranchise voters or interfere with the conduct of the March 18 elections.

On Wednesday, reports on social media claimed that the traditional ruler had scheduled traditional rites from Wednesday to Saturday to scare away voters in the Ikate-Elegushi area of Lagos.

The report elicited varied reactions on social media as some Nigerians believe that the traditional rites might interfere with the conduct of the elections.

Reacting to the development, Oyefeso said the traditional rites would not interfere with the conduct of the elections since the rites would end by 5 am on Saturday.

He said voters and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would not arrive at polling units by 5 am on election day.

“There is a curfew from the police for Saturday, from 12 midnight on Friday to 6 pm Saturday. Our own ends at 5 am on Saturday so there is no interference whatsoever with the election. People that want to come and vote will leave their houses by 8 am or 9 am,” Oyefeso said.

“INEC officials won’t get to the polling unit until 8 am or 9 am. People are just being mischievous by spreading unfounded allegations against the kingdom and it is not the king, it is the kingdom. The king is the head of the kingdom but there is a council.

“This process has been on before now. This is just the last phase of it. We deliberately avoided the election of last weekend hoping that the election will come and go. So unfortunately INEC in their own wisdom postponed the election.

“It is a long process so it is the last phase where we just have to restrict movement. It is from Wednesday to Friday but of course midnight Friday till 5 am on Saturday.”

The Oro festival is an annual traditional event celebrated by towns and settlements of Yoruba origin. The festival is usually celebrated only by male descendants who are paternal natives of the specific locations where the particular event is taking place.

During the festival, females and non-natives stay indoors as oral history has it that Oro must not be seen by women and non-participating people. It is believed that a female who sees the night-time procession may die or suffer barrenness.

‘ORO FESTIVAL SHOULD NOT AFFECT ELECTION’

Speaking on the development, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos, in a short video shared on social media, said traditional rulers should know better than engaging in any festival that will disenfranchise voters.

Rhodes-Vivour asked his supporters to come out en masse on Saturday, adding that there would be no form of intimidation during the elections.

“Some reports have been circulating that certain traditional rulers – Baale of Ijegun, Elegushi – are declaring Oro festival that suppose to start today and go all the way to Saturday,” he said.

“Traditional rulers know better than doing any festival that will in any way disfranchise voters.”