Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has announced the establishment of a N500 million endowment fund for victims of pre-election violence in the state.
Adeleke announced the initiative on Wednesday while receiving his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following his re-election.
According to the governor’s Special Assistant on Digital Media, Olalekan Badmus, the Osun State Government established the fund in honour of victims of violence recorded ahead of the governorship election.
Badmus also disclosed that the Adeleke family would provide full scholarships up to university level for children of people who died in the violence.
He said beneficiaries would be selected across political party lines.
“The Osun State Government establishes 500-million-naira endowment fund in honour of victims of pre-election violence in Osun State,” Badmus wrote in a post shared on social media.
“Adeleke family offers full scholarships to children of deceased up to university level. Victims are to cut across party lines.”
He added that the verification and compilation of beneficiaries would be handled by a special committee headed by the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun.
According to The Daily Beam, Adeleke said the intervention would be humanitarian rather than political and assured that eligible victims would not be discriminated against based on political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, gender or social status.
“This is not a political intervention. It is a humanitarian responsibility. No eligible victim will be excluded because of political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, gender or social status,” Adeleke said, according to the report.
“In grief, there is no political party. In our common humanity, we are one people.”
The governor also appealed to residents to unite following the governorship election, assuring those who voted for him and those who supported other candidates that he remained the governor of the entire state.
“The election is over. The campaign is over. The contest is over. Now is the time to govern, unite, heal and build,” he said, according to The Daily Beam.
Adeleke also prayed for families affected by the violence, the recovery of those injured and continued peace and development across Osun State.
The announcement comes days after Adeleke was declared the winner of the August 15 governorship election.
The incumbent governor, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), secured victory in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas.
His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won in the remaining 11 local government areas.
The governor’s latest intervention is aimed at providing financial support to victims and long-term educational assistance to children who lost their parents in the violence surrounding the election.
