Discordant Tunes over Oyo Local Govt Poll

Kemi Olaitan reports that the local government election held recently in the Pace Setter State and won by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party  has continued to generate reactions from opposition All Progressives Congress and Social Democratic Party.

Penultimate Saturday, the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), under the chairmanship of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Aare Isiaka Olagunju, conducted local government election across the 33 local government areas of the state and has subsequently declared the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winners of all chairmanship and councillorship seats.

However, both the conduct of the election and the outcome have been generating reactions especially from residents and members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), considering the fact that all the three senatorial seats and majority of the House of Representatives seats in the state are occupied by the party.

But for members of the ruling PDP it was a welcome development.

Governor Seyi Makinde who lauded residents of the state for turning out to vote, rated the conduct of the election high as it compared favourably with elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He said, “For us in Oyo State, it is almost like a given that democracy at the grassroots is what we practise. This is almost our 5th year in office and we are holding local government election for the second time. Before we came in, it had always been caretaker administration at the grassroots without the people having a say in who should govern them.

“You can see around also that the people are going about, performing the exercise peacefully and the traffic restriction is being obeyed by the people. So, I will commend our people for coming out to take seriously democracy at that level.”

The governor while noting that the security report about the election had been excellent, urged those who observed any untoward development to report same to the security agencies.

Similarly, the state government in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyewale, said the victory of all PDP candidates in the elections was predictable, stating that the outstanding performance of Makinde in the last five years was the major reason why the election turned out to be one-sided.

He also attributed the election result to the quality of the candidates which the ruling party presented, saying, “this is a glowing tribute to the governor and his government as this is the last election under his watch till 2027 when he and the just elected council Chairmen and councillors will end their tenures.”

Oyelade who observed that the opposition party started rehearsing their complaints barely 30 minutes to the commencement of the elections, charged them to behave like sportsmen and stop mixing fantasy with democracy.

He then saluted the commitments of the security team, the OYSIEC Chairman and his team for daring to make a difference after the challenges of the past two local government elections in the state.

The state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, has however described the council election as a sham capable of causing the pacesetter state untold disrepute if allowed to stand, calling on OYSIEC to reschedule it for another day when it is ready to conduct a free, fair and credible poll.

Sadare said reports from across the state indicated that cases of non-availability of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortage of voting materials, violence and threat to life were recorded while the electoral commission appeared helpless to rescue the situation even as voters waited endlessly in most of the places affected.

According to him, “Another opportunity to deepen democracy and return power to the people at the grassroots has had to be missed due to the insensitivity and insincerity on the part of the ruling class in the state.

“With what is happening at the moment in most polling units across the state, Governor Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.

“Even if OYSIEC comes out later to declare all the candidates of the APC, we would not rate this election as credible and acceptable as it falls below the minimum global standard of election conduct. The best thing is for the Commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for a proper conduct rather continue to connive with a few anti-democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land.

“For the avoidance of doubt, OYSIEC started with back and forth position on the need to deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the conduct of the poll. Few days ago, the Commission recruited PDP members as its adhoc staff and this same set of people were saddled with the responsibilities of conducting today’s poll and they have been carrying out the script given to them by the powers-that-be in the state. What could be the rationale behind taking 500 pieces of ballot papers to a polling unit where about 1,500 registered as eligible voters?

“OYSIEC failed to mobile officials to attend to prospective voters in key polling units while it also released inadequate voting materials to virtually all the polling units. In most Polling Units, officials of the Commission did not arrive untill Noon when most voters had left for their respective homes in frustration. This aptly validated the suspicion that the PDP had handed a script to the Commission to implement in their favour.

“In the 10 local government councils of Oke-Ogun, the official result sheets known as Form EC8A were withheld by OYSIEC’s Electoral Officers while political thugs were unleashed on some members of the opposition who asked questions in places like Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, Oluyole, among others. The chairman of our party in Ibarapa East, Mr. Segun Ojediran, was violently attacked by the PDP thugs in Eruwa and he is now receiving treatment in a private hospital.

“OYSIEC has failed to accommodate more than 80 per cent of the eligible voters in the state today and there is no way the meagre 20 per cent of people who were lucky to cast their votes in a lawful manner can decide the fate of the vast majority. Obviously, the Commission allowed a few people to cast their votes at the polling units while the balance of majority rights to vote was secretly handed down to the PDP. Any electoral victory given behind close door is illegitimate, tainted and unacceptable. Therefore, we call for the total cancellation of the whole exercise as it was done today.”

Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Committee on Electoral Matters and member of the APC, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, said OYSIEC did not prepare for the local government election in the state, stating that there were lots of abnormalities that characterised the election.

According to him: “As I am talking, the OYSIEC officials said they are on their way when the election is going to close at 3.pm and they are yet to arrive at 11.am. It shows that the OYSIEC is not prepared or up to some games. It is one out of the two.

“Because if by 11.am materials are yet to arrive this place which is about 5 to 10 minutes from both the OYSIEC headquarters and Ibadan North local government headquarters, so, what are we talking about.

This is ward 3 and this is where I have been voting, last year we were here and by this time the election was almost concluded”.

Another chieftain of APC in the state, Oyedele Hakeem Alao, described the election as a mockery of democracy, stating that it showed the disdain of Governor Makinde for the third tier of government as he has consistently kicked against local government autonomy.

He said, “I want to join well meaning citizens of our dear state to condemn what played out on Saturday as local government election, both Governor Makinde and OYSIEC assured of free and fair election but sadly did the opposite by disenfranchising the people by withholding election materials from all the polling units and went ahead to announce results that have been prepared before the election. For me the people of the state do not believe in the shenanigans that the governor and the electoral body called election bringing shame to the pace setter state.”

Alao then called for an amendment of the 1999 constitution for a truly independent and unbiased umpire in the states to conduct  election at the local government level without the interference of governors who have turned themselves to emperors and who if not quickly checked may truncate the country’s democracy.

On his part, the state Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Hon. Michael Okunlade, called on OYSIEC Chairman to resign his position over what he described as alleged conspiracy, dubious manner and clandestine tendencies that played out during the election, maintaining that the election was masterminded in favour of PDP despite promises of free, fair and credible election made before the day.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and chieftain of APC in the state, Chief Niyi Akintola, however, said he was not surprised with the outcome of the election, urging anyone aggrieved with the outcome of the poll to go to court to seek redress.

He noted that for the eight years that the APC was in power in the state it won all the local government elections conducted.

According to him, “I don’t care who wins. It is none of my business. I am not surprised with the outcome of the election. When we were there for eight years, it was not different. From experience, anywhere a local government election is conducted, the ruling party always declares winners. That has always been the pattern. Therefore, I did not expect anything different.

“Up till now, we have not settled the crises within the APC. All four tendencies are not united. The remaining tendencies cannot present candidates and I would be supporting them.

‘’Those I supported and backed won. They are in the PDP. I supported them because we have not settled our differences. How do you expect a divided house to win? Anyone who is aggrieved with the outcome of the election should go to court. Only court can determine if an election is fair.”