Ondo Monarch, Oba Fredrick denies snatching ballot boxes

The  Olugbo of Ugbo-Ilaje in the oil-rich riverside area of Ondo state, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, discredit the allegations linking him with incidents of ballot-box  snatching and intimidation of voters during the State Assembly election held on Saturday

He said, “I am hearing these allegations for the first time and it amazed me that some people would link my person with such acts.

“For the avoidance of doubts, I am in my palace at Ode-Ugbo. I am a traditional ruler and the paramount king of my people; so there is no way I could be involved in partisan political affairs as the father to all.

“Whoever that is spreading rumours of the involvement of the Olugbo palace in this is a very wicked person.”

He noted that the fact that his son was a candidate in the election, was “not enough for anybody, who comes from a place where they have a monarch, to trample on the integrity of the Olugbo, a throne that had existed for centuries.”

He said, “The Olugbo is not a politician and there is no politics on the Ugbo throne. Politicians should mind the kind of statement they make when they do their politicking and henceforth desist from dragging respectable institutions into the mud.”