PDP Reacts As Court Nullifies Osun Local Govt Election Conducted By Oyetola

The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the court sacking of all elected officials in the local government election conducted in Osun State.

Naija News recalls the Federal High Court in Osogbo on Friday, sacked sixty-nine council chairmen in Osun State over alleged irregularities in the election that brought them to seat.

Justice Nathaniel Ayoola in his ruling, submitted that the polls conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) on October 15th 2022 contravened Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

In this regard, Ayoola sacked the chairmen of 30 Local Government Areas, 32 Local Council Development Areas, 7 Area Offices, and 393 counsellors in Osun State elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) from office.

The development is coming barely 48 hours before the tenure of Governor Gboyega Oyetola during whose administration the election held comes to an end.

The PDP in a reaction to the development on Friday via a statement issued by the Osun caretaker chairman, Akindele Adekunle said the court duly ruled against illegality.

The statement observed that the PDP had earlier warned the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) against conducting the exercise but the Commission’s chairman and the Governor ignored their warning.

It added that Governor Oyetola supported lawlessnes by allowing the election to hold in the first place.

The statement said: “We had warned against holding that fake selection they called election. We had cited all relevant legal authorities to convince OSIEC to back out of the undemocratic scheme. The Commission Chairman who himself is a lawyer decided to act against clear provisions of the law to supervise this crudely executed lawlessness.

“This judgement is an affirmation of the correctness of many alerts we have issued in recent times. The outgoing Governor had deliberately committed a lot of infractions and lawlessness. We will deploy all legal means to correct the anomalies in compliance with public service rules, extant laws and the constitution of the republic.”