- OSSIEC chair alleges police arrest of staff
- Adeleke causing chaos, says Omisore
- Adeleke commends Tinubu’s support for rule of law
- PDP wins all 30 LGAs amid boycott
From voters’ low turnout to unavailability of officials and materials at many polling centres for the Osun State Local Government election, the state Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) had a day to forget yesterday.
Chairman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in the state, Hon. Adewale Adebayo, branded the election a mere lockdown of the state while a non-government organization, Justice Development And Peace Makers Centre (JDPMC), which had teamed up with OSSIEC in the early stage of the preparation for the election, said it no longer had confidence in the commission.
Some prospective voters also expressed dismay at what they called the shoddy performance of the commission.
Chairman of OSSIEC, Hashim Abioye, laid the blame for the inadequacies of the elections at the doorstep of the police who, according to him, sealed the headquarters of the commission and arrested some of its officials.
However, Governor Ademola Adeleke, who had rejected the advice of the Attorney General of the Federation and justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and that of Police Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun to call off the election, described it as peaceful, saying: “I know that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will emerge victorious.”
He commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting the rule of law in the conduct of the election.
Reports from many parts of the state showed that a lot of residents chose to stay at home rather than go out to vote, apparently because of the controversy and violence that preceded the election.
Polling units at Ogo-Oluwa, Alekunwodo, Olaiya, Oja-Oba all in Osogbo, the state capital, had no voters, OSSIEC staff and security personnel as at 9: 15 am.
Besides, voters’ list was not displayed at some of the polling units visited.
However, election took place in units 18, 19 and 20, Ward 4, Ataoja D.
Although Governor Adeleke ordered restriction of vehicular movement from 5a.m to 5p.m across the state, many residents chose to ignore the order as there was free vehicular movement without any form of restriction, although some major roads were blocked by the police.
There was no sign of voters and OSSIEC ad hoc staff in some of the polling units in Ile-Ife.
In Ede, the home town of the governor, the situation was a bit different. Voters were seen in some of the polling units visited with OSSIEC and ad hoc staff attending to them.
At Obalaoye Grammar School, Unit 2 Ward 4, some voters were seen on queue at 8:00 am waiting to cast their votes.
Also, Oloba Atapara Ward 1, Unit 6 witnessed few voters waiting to be accredited and to cast their votes.
A voter, Mr Nifemi Akingbala, said the process was peaceful and urged all voters to cast their votes without fear.
Akingbala commended the electoral umpire for making the process peaceful.
The election was said to have been concluded in many parts of Ede by 9am.
There was no presence of security operatives, especially the police, NSCDC and DSS, at any of the polling units where the election took place.
Some prospective voters expressed frustration at the poor conduct of the election.
They said electoral officials were nowhere to be found.
Mrs Tinumola Tijani, who was to vote at Unit 11, Ward 3, Asubuaro, Osogbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that she could not cast her vote as there was no official of the commission to attend to her.
She said that the election fell below the expectations of the people.
Another resident, Mr Yemi Akindele, who said no OSSIEC ad hoc staff was available to attend to voters at Unit 17, Ward 4, Cele Junction, Owode-Ede, described the election as a jamboree.
Akindele said he left his home early to cast his vote but met nobody at the polling unit to attend to him.
“This is unfortunate. What kind of election is this? I am highly disappointed,” he said.
NAN also reports that there were no OSSIEC officials in most of the polling units visited in Ife, Osogbo, Obokun and Owode-Ede, among others.
No election in Osun but lockdown —APM chair
Adebayo said OSSIEC was wrong to have insisted on proceeding with the election when it was clear that the logistics for the polls were not in place.
He said: “What we experienced in Osun State today is not election but lockdown because people refused to participate in the illegal poll except Ede town where only a few members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) voted in some polling units of top political appointees of the governor.
“Our party is vindicated that OSSIEC can never conduct any meaningful election since its chairman, Hashim Abioye, is a card-carrying member of PDP and serves Adeleke as Special Adviser on Legal Matters and served as PDP caretaker Secretary.
“Osun State Government, through OSSIEC, only wasted billions of naira on shadow election. Our members in Irewole, Isokan, Boripe, Ifelodun, Olorunda, Egbedore, Irepodun and Orolu, among other places, confirmed that elections were not held.
“In Ede where they held illegal election, they claimed they concluded voting by 8:30am; the same Ede that voted till 9 pm during the governorship election in 2022.”
The State Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Prince Adebayo Bello, accused OSSIEC of denying his party an opportunity to inspect voting materials before the election while party agents were not accredited to monitor the election.
An LP chairmanship candidate in Ife Central, Tumininu Omotosho, in a video, claimed that there was no official of OSSIEC on ground for her to cast her vote.
We no longer have confidence in OSSIEC —JDPMC
Coordinator of JDPMC, Rev Fr Peter Akinkunmi, said OSSIEC appeared to have lost focus following the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal, which the APC and PDP in the state have interpreted differently.
He said the commission “became less engaging and accessible” after the court ruling.
He added: “This frustrated efforts to get very useful information about the election for further engagement with stakeholders and the citizenry ahead of the election.”
The clergyman noted that the disagreement between OSSIEC and the police on the conduct of the polls, caused credibility problem for the exercise.
Consequently, he said JDPMC found it impossible to undertake a credible election observation exercise in strict adherence to its principles based on best practice.
“JDPMC hereby withdraws all its observers from the various polling units with immediate effects and so announces its discontinuation of observing the February 22, 2025, Osun Local Government election,” he said.
It’s a charade, says APC
The APC which had announced that it would not participate in the election called it a charade.
A chieftain of the party, Jamiu Olawumi, said:“The state is sliding into stone age when we are in computer age.
He said: “The OSSIEC chairman is a card-carrying member of PDP and cannot do better than he did. What they did in Ife Central Local Government is not an election.
“Some people were thumb printing ballot papers for the electorate. Ditto for Egbedore where a School principal and a PDP member were carrying the ballot box from one polling unit to another to fill it with ballot papers.
“This is nothing but a charade, and we are resolute in our decision in line with the Appeal Court judgment that there is no vacancy in the 30 local government councils in the state.”
Police arresting our staff, says OSSIEC chairman
Abioye, in a post on the X handle of OSSIEC, accused the police of arresting officials of the commission on election duties across the state.
He commended voters for turning out to exercise their civic rights despite the challenges and apologised to the media for the commission’s inability to provide accreditation materials.
He said this was caused by the police sealing of the commission’s headquarters where the materials were stored.
Read Also: APC chieftain to Adeleke: obey court ruling, halt planned Osun LG election
PDP sweeps all 30 LGAs in council poll
The Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), Hashim Abioye, announced at a press conference yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won all the chairmanship and councillorship seats in all the 30 local government areas (LGAs) in the state.
The commission had defied warnings by the police and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, that the poll should be put on hold on account of a subsisting judgment of the Osun State High Court.
Adeleke had commended the commission for the peaceful conduct of the elections soon after casting his vote at Sagba/Abogunde Ward 2, Unit 9, Ede North Local Government Area,.
The governor had advised residents to go out and cast their votes without any fear of intimidation, urging political stakeholders and electorate to shun violence during and after the elections.
Adeleke expressed confidence that all PDP candidates would emerge victorious in the elections.
“I want to urge everyone to come out and cast their votes. The election will be peaceful,” the governor assured.
He commended President Tinubu for supporting the rule of law in the conduct of the local government election in the state.
The governor, however, denied making any negative comments against the President.
“I did not at any point utter any negative remarks about Mr President.
” All the news articles suggesting that I made negative remarks against the President are fake.
“I have been very supportive and collaborative with the federal government.
” In my two broadcasts, I did not in any way attack the President.
“I urge the public and stakeholders to ignore the fake news as I did not attack President Tinubu in any way before and during the ongoing local government election,” he said.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Teslim Igbalaye, commended the electorate for coming out en masse to cast their votes.
Igbalaye, who spoke to newsmen in Osogbo, also commended OSSIEC for conducting a peaceful election.
“I want to commend the electorate for coming out en masse to cast their votes.
Adeleke causing chaos, says Omisore
Former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary Senator Iyiola Omisore has berated Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke for conducting illegal chairmanship and councillorship elections in 30 local governments.
He said the governor and his teleguided state electoral commission were busy chasing shadows by conducting imaginary polls to fill non-existing vacancies across the councils.
In his view, Adeleke is causing a serious trouble that may warrant the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.
Omisore said in a statement that the Osun State Government is lawless, adding that it also ignored wise legal counsel because it was bent on violating the court judgment.
He explained that the Court of Appeal judgment was clear enough, emphasising that 30 council chairmen and their councillors had been reinstated by the temple of justice.
Omisore complained that Adeleke was bent on conducting the polls and plunging the state into crisis because he was motivated by an inordinate ambition to misuse the funds of the councils.
The former deputy governor said the desperation to misuse council funds may have played a role in the insistence to conduct a false election that will not stand the test of law and time.
He insisted that the state electoral commission indulged in a show of shame orchestrated by its paymaster.
Omisore said: ” Disobeying court orders and judgement, wasting Osun state resources, desperately influencing the judiciary to sit over superior court decision and turning deaf ears to the wise counsel, Adelele has committed a heinous crime against democracy and humanity.”
He said if there is a breakdown of law and order in the State of Living Springs, the governor should be held responsible.
Omisore added:”Adeleke acted against commonsense. He has set the stage for the breakdown of law and order. God will not allow it. The governor is inviting a declaration of a state of emergency in Osun. The whole exercise was a shameless charade and dancing taken too far.”
