Politics
Exclusive: Oyo APC finally writes OYSIEC to postpone LG elections, gives reason
Oyo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has requested that the state Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) postpone the intended local government elections till 7th day of August, 2021 following the recent decision of the Supreme Court which declared the illegally sacked council bosses as the lawfully elected local government chairmen.
Oyo APC made the request in a letter written to the OYSIEC Chairman, Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju SAN and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, dated 10th May; 2021 and received by the duo yesterday (11th May, 2021).
Meanwhile, OYSIEC, through its Chairman, Olagunju, had maintained that there was no plan or justification for the commission to postpone the local council election from May 22, 2021 to a later date.
But, the APC, in a letter written to OYSIEC by its solicitors and signed by Olamiji Martins noted that the matter instituted by Oyo ALGON lasted for 2 years from the High Court of Justice to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He argued that within the 2 years legal debacle, it wouldn’t have been legally right for the APC and indeed Oyo ALGON to have jettisoned the pending court matter and shift base to the Commission’s side when the illegally sacked council chairmen had specifically prayed the Court to restrain OYSIEC from conducting the said election.
Olamiji Martins, in the letter, also observed that It would have amounted to approbating and reprobating simultaneously, maintaining that in the spirit of the laws of the land, it was only legal for Oyo APC and indeed Oyo ALGON to desist from rendering nugatory the possible orders of the court.
In order to avoid constitutional crises and unsolicited legal tussles, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state however opined that it is better in the spirit of democracy and wider participation which the commission had earlier promised when it visited the party office at Oke-Ado on 7th January 2021, to postpone the election and allow the party conduct its affairs in readiness to participate in the election.
“It does not allude to commonsense that our client should have conducted primary elections in readiness for your Commission’s election when its matter against your Commission was before the Supreme Court of Nigeria. That would have amounted to a contemptuous and ridiculous act”, the letter said.
Contained in the letter, which was obtained by Mega Icon Magazine from impeccable sources, Oyo APC recalled, “in 2018 the body of duly elected local government Chairmen and Councillors popularly referred to as ALGON took the Oyo State Government and your Commission to the Oyo State High Court of Justice in suit number I/347/2019. When judgment was entered in favour of ALGON by My Lord, the Honourable Justice A. A. Aderemi restraining your Commission from conducting elections into the Local Governments in Oyo State, the Oyo State Government and your humble Commission approached the Court of Appeal. At the Court of Appeal, judgment was entered in favour of Oyo State Government and your Commission. Dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal judgment, the matter went to the apex court of the land: the Supreme Court.
“Recall also that the Supreme Court of Nigeria reserved judgment in the case between ALGON and your Commission and others on February 10, 2021 for the judgment to be read on 7th May, 2021. It was when the matter was before the highest Court of the land that your Commission started in earnest to prepare to conduct the elections into Chairmanship and Councillorship positions into the 33 local government areas in the state. When your Commission visited our client on 7th January 2021, you implored our client to participate in the Local Government election. Our client informed you that as a law abiding party, it would rather wait till the matter at the Supreme Court in suit number SC556/2020 is properly determined.
“However, it is instructive to note that after your appointment in September 2019, your commission did not take any concrete step to start the electioneering process immediately and this is largely due to the fact that your Commission and indeed the Oyo State Government had appealed the High Court judgment of Justice A. A. Aderemi delivered in suit number I/347/2019 restraining your Commission from conducting election and the matter heard by the Court of Appeal, Ibadan in suit number CA/IB/300/2019. Your Commission did not do anything because part of the reliefs granted in favour of ALGON in the judgment was an order of injunction restraining your Commission from conducting election into the office of the Chairman and Councillors of all or any of the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State.
It continued, “As soon as judgment was delivered in your Commission’s favour by the Court of Appeal on 15th July, 2020 and the judgment of the High Court set aside, your Commission suddenly found its voice and from September 2020, your Commission started visiting political parties for parleys and talks despite the fact that ALGON had appealed the judgment and approached the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal. True, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal and declared the Appellants as the lawfully elected Local Government Chairmen.
“The question now is: would it not defeat the essence of the appeal at the Supreme Court should ALGON have joined your Commission in its pre-election arrangements against the doctrine of lis pendens? As a senior lawyer, you are aware of the provision of the law that once a matter has been appealed, all parties are expected to stay put and not take any step that will overreach the court and parties to the suit. Your Commission did not. ALGON won at the High Court, your Commission won at the Court of Appeal and the matter went to Supreme Court. Unfortunately, your Commission felt it could make do with the Court of Appeal judgment and go ahead to start preparation to conduct the election when in essence the 3 cases followed a single streak. Your Commission was meant to have waited, in deference to the rule of law, before taking any step to conduct any election whatsoever. It did not.”
“Learned Silk, our client had no reason to preempt the Supreme Court and had to exercise caution in waiting till the judgment is delivered in the case. It is actually a void act and outrightly unlawful for any party to a suit to approbate and reprobate at the same time. This has been made notorious by judicial pronouncements of our Law Lords. Of reference is the Supreme Court’s decided case of NASKO v. BELLO (2020) LPELR-52530 (SC)
“Learned Silk, it would have amounted to one having his cake and then eating it if our client had participated in the processes building up to the purported election your Commission is planning to conduct by 22nd May, 2021 when it had taken your Commission before the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The question is: what would have happened if the Supreme Court had ordered members of ALGON back to their offices? This mindset was borne out of the fact that the Supreme Court being so empowered, could have made a consequential order pursuant to its extant Court Rules, Laws, Practice Directions and Procedures.
“Basically because the ALGON members are also part of our client, and basically because they are the principal Appellants in the case which was determined at the Supreme Court last Friday, it would have amounted to an overreaching act and judicial travesty if after taking your Commission to court, they still participate in your Commission’s election build-up processes. That would have amounted to an overt illegality and an overreaching act based on the imperishable dictum of the revered Niki Tobi JSC in the case of NIWA v. SPDC (2008) LPELR-1963(SC).
“The wait by ALGON is actually legal and within the ambits of the law. This has found expression in the case of OKOYE v. INEC (2010) LPELR-4726 (CA)
“You had had the course, at various fora, to say that it is the desire of your Commission not to make its personal interests clash with the general interests of the people and make sure that concerted efforts would be made to change the perception of the public on forms of conducting local government elections over the years to enhance massive participation during the poll. Mr. Chairman, your integrity is now been appealed to as our client is holding strongly to your words of non-partisanship in the matter. Your Commission stands nothing to lose if it postpones this election and if your Commission doesn’t use its power as a punitive weight and bring same to bear on our client.
“Our client informed us that it is willing to participate in the election if your Commission is willing to allow reason to prevail and if your Commission postpones the elections till August 2021 when our client would have done all its internal assignments in readiness to participate in the local government elections.
“The decision – whether to postpone the election or not – lies in your Commission’s womb and we know actually that whichever way your Commission decide to follow, your Commission has nothing to lose. However, we implore your Commission to allow for the postponement as our client is a respecter of the rule of law and a strict adherent to the doctrine of lis pendens and wouldn’t flout the due process of law under any guise. Now that the Supreme Court has laid the ALGON matter to rest, we humbly implore your Commission to postpone the election till 7th August, 2021 so that our client can prepare itself to participate in it”, the letter concluded.
However, as of press time, efforts made by our reporter to reach the Oyo APC acting Publicity Secretary, Dr Abdul-Azeez Olatunde via his cellphone number for comments were unsuccessful.
Market men and women across Oyo South Senatorial District have declared support for the senatorial ambition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the district, Engr. Aderemi Oseni, and reaffirmed their backing for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The traders said their endorsement was driven by the lawmaker’s sustained grassroots interventions and what they described as his people-centred representation.
The endorsement came on Monday during an interactive engagement in Ibadan with market stakeholders drawn from the nine local government areas of the senatorial district.
At the event, Oseni supported market men and women across the district with N90 million, with each of the nine local government areas receiving N10 million to boost petty trading, expand businesses and stimulate grassroots economic activity.
In a statement by his media aide, Idowu Ayodele, the lawmaker said the intervention was part of efforts to improve livelihoods and deepen economic inclusion, particularly among small-scale traders.
Oseni, who represents Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and chairs the House Committee on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), said empowering market operators remained central to his development agenda.
He said markets remained the heartbeat of local communities, noting that traders’ resilience continues to sustain families and drive local economies.
“This intervention is aimed at strengthening their businesses, easing economic pressure and encouraging enterprise at the grassroots,” he said.
The APC chieftain added that his representation would continue to focus on practical interventions with visible impact.
“Leadership must translate into visible impact. I remain committed to initiatives that support small businesses, create opportunities for growth and complement the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.
Oseni also canvassed support for President Tinubu among traders in Oyo South, saying stronger alignment between federal, state, senatorial and local government leadership would accelerate development in the state.
He listed the Tinubu administration’s initiatives to include the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND, measures to curb industrial actions in tertiary institutions, tuition-free technical colleges, construction and rehabilitation of major highways, agricultural support programmes and subsidies for cancer treatment, fuel subsidy removal, which he noted has boosted state and local government revenues.
He urged traders to mobilise support for APC candidates in the next general elections, expressing confidence that Tinubu’s re-election would further improve residents’ welfare.
Speaking on behalf of the traders, the Coordinator of Market Men and Women in Oyo South Senatorial District and Babaloja of Omi-Adio and Ido Local Government, Chief Odedele Waheed, commended the turnout and described the engagement as a demonstration of confidence in Oseni’s leadership.
He lauded the lawmaker for sustained grassroots development efforts, noting that the N90 million support would strengthen businesses across the district.
Odedele also commended the leadership of market men and women in Oyo State for granting traders approval to meet and interact with the lawmaker, saying the platform allowed them to express concerns and understand his vision for Oyo South.
The traders pledged to mobilise support across markets in the district in favour of Oseni’s electoral bid and President Tinubu’s re-election.
Those present included the Babaloja of Ibadan North East, Ibrahim Balogun; Babaloja of Ibadan South West, Rafiu Iyo; Babaloja of Ibadan North West, Alhaji Tajudeen Hammed; Alhaji Abdulraman Salawudeen; Asiwaju Oloja of Ibarapa Zone, Chief Okanlawon John Adebisi; Babaloja of Ibadan North, Chief Adewole Basirat; and Iyaloja of Ibarapa Central, Chief Ige Fausat, among others.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the Governor of Ekiti State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, announced the result at about 3:13 a.m. on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, saying Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rivals and secure a second term in office.
According to Oladiji, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Oluwole Oluyede, garnered 40,543 votes, while the African Democratic Congress candidate, Dare Bejide, secured 12,872 votes.
She said 384,940 voters were accredited for the election, while 375,777 valid votes were recorded. The electoral umpire also announced that 6,332 votes were rejected, bringing the total number of votes cast to 382,109.
The declaration capped a governorship poll largely adjudged peaceful by observers and security agencies, despite complaints of malfunctioning Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines, delayed commencement of voting in some polling units and allegations of voter intimidation by opposition parties.
INEC said voting was conducted in all the 2,445 polling units across the state’s 16 local government areas, noting that 2,257 units, representing 92.31 per cent, opened before 8.30 a.m., while 188 polling units commenced accreditation and voting before 10.30 a.m. after experiencing minor delays.
The commission also commenced uploading polling unit results to its Results Viewing Portal shortly after the completion of voting and counting in several centres.
The PDP candidate, Oluyede, had expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the exercise at Ugele/Arokun Ward in Ikere Local Government Area, alleging that many prospective voters were disenfranchised due to BVAS-related challenges.
Speaking with journalists after voting at Polling Unit 006, he further alleged cases of harassment and intimidation of voters in the area.
Some elderly voters at the polling unit also lamented difficulties encountered during accreditation and urged INEC to urgently rectify the technical glitches.
The ADC candidate, Bejide, similarly alleged irregularities during the exercise.
However, Oyebanji dismissed the claims, insisting that those making allegations of electoral misconduct should provide credible evidence to support them.
The governor, who voted at Polling Unit 003, Okelele, Ikogosi-Ekiti, in Ekiti West Local Government Area, described the election as satisfactory and urged eligible voters yet to cast their ballots to do so peacefully.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of election security, Abayomi Shogunle, said no case of vote-buying was reported to security agencies throughout the exercise.
Election observers commended the peaceful atmosphere that characterised the poll but raised concerns over procedural inconsistencies.
The First Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Sebastian Anyia, described the process as orderly and peaceful, saying voter turnout was encouraging.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Brenda Anugwom, lauded the resilience of female voters, many of whom remained at polling units for several hours with their children to exercise their franchise.
Yiaga Africa, however, expressed concern over discrepancies involving ballot papers, result sheets and INEC’s published list of candidates, warning that such inconsistencies could create challenges during collation and reconciliation of results.
The election observer group urged INEC to provide further clarification on the final list of participating parties and candidates and issue clear guidance to electoral officials handling result documentation.
Ahead of the poll, INEC and security agencies had repeatedly assured residents of their preparedness to deliver a peaceful, credible and transparent election, deploying personnel and restricting vehicular movement to forestall electoral violence and other offences.
The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has rejected plans by the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde to conduct another local government election on December 26, 2026, describing the proposed exercise as illegal, premature and a calculated move to retain political influence at the grassroots beyond the governor’s tenure.
The party declared that it would neither participate in the election nor remain silent over what it termed an attempt to squander public resources on a process allegedly designed to install loyalists in the 33 local government councils and 351 wards across the state.
The controversy followed the decision of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) to shift the date earlier fixed for January 2027 to December 26, 2026, after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the timetable for the 2027 general elections.
The move has continued to generate debate among political observers, many of whom have questioned the urgency of conducting another council poll barely six months before the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent chairmen and councillors elected in the 2024 local government elections.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, the APC said it would not stop at boycotting the election but would also collaborate with “patriots and rational minds” to resist what it called an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
The party accused Governor Makinde of lacking commitment to local government autonomy, alleging that the administration had exercised undue control over council resources for more than seven years.
“The whole world knows that Governor Makinde does not believe in local government autonomy and, when it comes to democracy at the grassroots, he cannot be trusted for anything,” the statement said.
The APC alleged that the proposed poll was aimed at positioning individuals loyal to the governor in local councils before his exit from office on May 29, 2027, arguing that such a move would enable him to sustain political influence after leaving the Agodi Government House.
According to the opposition party, expectations among many residents are centred on ongoing efforts by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to strengthen local government autonomy and ensure that councils enjoy direct access to their statutory allocations without interference from state governments.
The APC also linked what it described as poor development outcomes in some rural communities to the operation of the state-local government joint account system. It cited communities such as Ahoro Esiele and Yawota in Oriire Local Government Area, which have reportedly faced security challenges, as examples of areas where local government resources should have translated into visible improvements.
“It is sad that Governor Makinde appears determined to sustain a system that has left many rural communities vulnerable despite huge allocations accruing to local governments monthly,” the party said.
The opposition further dismissed the local government elections conducted in 2020 and 2024 as lacking credibility, alleging that winners emerged through predetermined outcomes rather than a transparent electoral process.
“The fraud called local government polls in 2020 and 2024 should be the last the people of Oyo State would witness. Governor Makinde and his supporters should bury any thought of staging another charade in which results are announced without genuine voting and public offices become tools for the diversion of public funds,” the statement added.
The APC consequently urged officials of OYSIEC to halt preparations for the proposed December election, warning against actions capable of undermining democratic values and public confidence in the electoral process.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Oyo State Government nor OYSIEC had issued an official response to the allegations raised by the opposition party.
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