•Opposition Party Vows to Upturn Outcome
Mixed reactions greeted Osun State Local Government election on Saturday as the ruling Governor and the opposition party shared opposing views over the exercise.
While Governor Gboyega Oyetola who voted in his Iragbiji home town described the exercise as rancor-free, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party said the election is a sham.
The PDP said it will overturn the result and remove whoever emerge as council officials from the election.
The PDP and other parties had stayed away from the process on Saturday leaving only members of the All Progressive Congress going to the polling units to vote.
The PDP had described the election as a ploy to siphon money .
In a press release in Osogbo by the Caretaker Chairman of PDP, Dr Akindele Adekunle on Saturday, commended Osun people for taking to its call to stay away from what he described as “ill-conceived” council poll.
Akindele noted that “going by the attitude of Osun people, who largely stayed away from the sham put up by the outgoing APC administration, it is not too late for Oyetola to apologise and ensure that every penny expended on the failed exercise is returned to the state’s coffers.”
“Right from the start, the process was flawed and our efforts to make Oyetola understand this was not appreciated. Polling units across Osun state are either empty or the presence of scanty APC members are what greeted anyone who visited them.
He added,”Ballot papers purportedly used does not specify political parties neither does it designate the local government it was meant for. These explains the curiosity of Osun people and observers, who wondered whether it was an election or referendum that the Oyetola administration conducted.
The party further stressed that,the ongoing exercise in the state was a slap on democracy as APC members were also stationed at respective polling unit as OSSIEC officials adding that height of the sham is the random ticking of voter’s register without the physical presence of the person on the voter’s register.
“To make matter worse is how known members of the APC are stationed as officials of the OSSIEC, making mockery of the essence of democracy and bringing to focus the outgoing administration’s desperation to foist itself on the people.
“At the height of the sham is the random ticking of voter’s register without the physical presence of the person on the voter’s register, to the extent of ticking the names of the dead in many instances.
“The summary of what happened today was that Osun people do not accept the sham disguised as election, and as a party, we are proud of their courage and resoluteness in rejecting a dangerous precedent that posed grave danger to our state.
“It is imperative to point out that apart from the fact that the purported election was conducted in variance to known democratic tenets, the pending litigations challenging the validity of the NOTICE and the processes of the election, which the APC & OSSIEC did all within their efforts to frustrate its expeditious determination, is enough to cast the whole exercise into the waste bin.
“The OSSIEC Chairman should therefore note that he has prepared a solid ground of gross misconduct for himself and his members, and therefore will be taken to public account and forever go down in history as the biggest fraud that has ever happened to democracy not only in Osun State but Nigeria as a whole.
“In any case, Governor Oyetola and his lackey at the OSSIEC failed in their design to hijack the councils unlawfully as Osun people made it abundantly clear with their boycott of the sham that no room for illegality. Our party sympathises with Oyetola and his party for failing in their plot to unsettle the incoming administration, which was part of the purpose of the attempt to plan cronies as the helms of affairs of the council across the state.
The party urged members of the public not to be carried away with the shameful exercise adding that the incoming administration of Ademola Adeleke will do away with all the illegal officials emerged from the exercise
“We reiterate our warning that the PDP will do away with all the illegal officials that is produced from this exercise and want to make it clear that the incoming administration will ensure that everyone involved in this shameful act will not escape the wrath of the law just as every penny expended on it will be recovered”, the State Caretaker Chairman stated
Speaking after casting his vote alongside his wife, at Ward 1 Unit 002,Iragbiji,Boripe Local Government Area,Governor Gboyega Oyetola,described the process as peaceful, orderly and rancour-free.
He added that,the nation’s democracy is thriving and progressing steadily.
He said,”I thank God, the process has been very peaceful, orderly and rancour-free. My wife and I just cast our votes for the candidates of our choice and I believe that is exactly what is happening in virtually all the polling units in the State.
“Local government election is very important. Local government is the heartbeat of contact in government, so it is important for all of us to exercise our civic responsibility by casting our votes for the candidates of our choice.
He commented the security agencies for their steadfastness in ensuring that the security atmosphere of the state is peaceful.
“I must commend the security agencies for maintaining adequate security in most of the polling units. I believe the process is largely free and I believe we are going to have a very conducive environment throughout the entire process.
“I must commend the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, (OSIEC) for doing its best to ensure people come out to vote and for ensuring that election materials arrive on time at the polling units.
In contrary to the reports, Oyetola stated that, people come out en mass to vote for the representatives of their choice as guided by the law.
“People deserve to have elected representatives at the local level which is the reason for the election that is happening here today. It is quite commendable. Security agencies are up to the task. I commend the people particularly our party members for coming out en masse to cast their ballots. Indeed, our democracy is thriving,” Oyetola added.