Amid Osun LG Crisis, OSSIEC Unveils Voting Materials, Says It’s Set for Election
•PDP tells sacked council chair, others they can’t return to office, insists on court judgement
•State boils as hoodlums attempt to hijack secretariats, chair, two others killed, six sustain gunshots
•PDP N’Assembly caucus condemns devt
Chuks Okoch, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
Amid lingering local government crisis, Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), yesterday, unveiled voting materials for Saturday’s council election across the 30 local government areas of the state.
Chairman of OSSIEC, Hassim Abioye, stated at a press conference that the commission was ready for the exercise.
Abioye said, “We are fully ready for the upcoming local government elections on February 22nd, 2025, and we are unveiling the electoral materials.”
He urged all stakeholders in the political circle to maintain peace before, during and after the election.
You Can’t Return to Office, PDP Tells Sacked Council Chairmen, Councillors
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cautioned sacked Osun State local government chairmen and councillors to perish the thought of forcing themselves back into office, as such would have dire consequences.
PDP also charged All Progressives Congress (APC) to accept the reality and end its resort to self-help, misrepresentations, vituperations, violence and killing with the aim of triggering crisis and destabilising the state, having realised that it had lost.
PDP said the fate of the ousted local government chairmen and councillors was sealed by the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which nullified the unconstitutional attempt by then Governor Gboyega Oyetola to plant them as council officers.
National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said, “Having been roundly rejected by the people of Osun State in the Saturday, July 16, 2022, governorship election, the then Governor Oyetola and the APC ought to have known that attempting to side-step the laws and manipulate the process to illegally foist APC members and apologists as local government chairmen and counsellors was an exercise in futility, which was bound to fail ultimately.
“The APC is the architect of its misfortune. It should have known that disregarding and refusing to comply with the provisions of the constitution and the Osun State Local Government Election Laws with respect to the requirement on notices, processes and procedures of conducting local government election is destined to be fatal and irreparable.”
Osun Boils as One Reinstated Chairman, Two Others Killed, Six Sustain Gunshots
Tension, yesterday, enveloped Osun State, as gunmen invaded local government secretariats following an attempt by both All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take over control in accordance with the decision of the appeal court.
The development became fatal after one of the reinstated APC local government chairmen Hon. Remi Abass, was killed in Irewole Local Government Area.
At Boripe, the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and Protocol, Hon. Ajeigbe Korede, informed journalists that two PDP members were also feared dead while six others, who received gunshots, were at the hospital for treatment.
THISDAY learnt that in the early hours of Monday, APC members moved to the various council secretariats in a bid to take over control, but they were resisted by some gun-wielding hoodlums.
APC also attempted to take over all the 30 local government areas, but Boluwaduro local government was resisted by hoodlums while both APC and PDP members were prevented by police from gaining access to the council secretariat in Olorunda Local Government Area.
Executive Chairman, Ife-Central Local Government Area, Hon. Olayera Elugbaju, resumed office in accordance with the Court of Appeal judgement.
PDP N’Assembly Caucus Condemns ‘Criminal’ Takeover of LGs’ Secretariat
Osun State Caucus of Peoples Democratic party in the National Assembly, condemned the alleged criminal take-over of the local government secretariats across Osun State.
The caucus, led by Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Lere Oyewumi, while addressing a press conference in Abuja, said having observed the breakdown of law and order in the state in the last few hours, it was necessary to address the people.
Oyewumi stated, “We use this medium to condemn the brazen effrontery of the sacked local government council officials to return to office notwithstanding the yet-to-be-set-aside decision of the Court of Appeal, Akure, against their return to the office.
“Today (Monday), the people of Osun woke up to a criminal take-over of the local government secretariats across Osun State by these sacked officials, who forcefully broke into the premises of the councils, aided by thugs and hooligans who have been shooting sporadically, wreaking havoc on the people of the state, thereby breaking law and order.
“Sadly, this is being perpetrated with the support of some security personnel, relying on a different court judgement, despite a subsisting court judgement, which upheld the nullification of their purported election.”
