• Govt orders arrest of those seeking to resume LG offices
• No judgment stopping Osun council poll, says OSSIEC boss
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state have given different interpretations to the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State yesterday.
Following the judgment of a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in November, 2022, that nullified the election into local councils in the state under the erstwhile administration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC and sacked the elected officials, the APC approached the appellate court to seek redress.
Chairman of Osun APC, Tajudeen Lawal, said the Court of Appeal, in its judgment on Monday, reinstated the elected council chairmen and councillors “who were chased out of office by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s government two years ago.”
Hailing the justices for what he described as “a sound verdict delivered”, Lawal described it as a welcome development, which has further proven the “power of light over darkness.”
Lawal in a statement issued by the APC Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, argued that the implication of the judgment is that legal backing has been given to the “reinstated council officers to return to office with immediate effect.”
Disagreeing with the APC, OSSIEC chairman, Hashim Abioye, while addressing a press conference, said the Appeal Court judgment did not reinstate the sacked chairmen and neither did it stop the commission from conducting the February 22 local government elections in the state.
“The reasoning of the Appellate Court was that the suit was filed before the Notice of election was issued by OSSIEC. It must be noted that it was during the pendency of the said suit before the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 that OSSIEC Law 2022 was enacted and the notice of election was issued.
“The Claimant in the case amended the originating summons to bring the suit in line with the developments which occurred during the pendency of the suit. The Federal High Court delivered its judgment in the suit on the 25th November, 2022, nullifying the election and sacking the purported elected officials.
“The affected political party APC and their purported candidates for the election appealed the judgment, and today the Court of Appeal delivered a judgment in the appeal striking out the suit for being speculative.
“To this effect, there is no order returning any purported elected officials of the APC to office or stopping the conduct of the election already scheduled by the Commission to hold on February 22, 2025.
“In specific terms, the 30 Local Government Areas in Osun State remain vacant till date as there is a substituting decision of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal against the APC and its purported candidates,” Abioye said.
Re-echoing OSSIEC’s stance, Osun State Government explained that “there is no judgment restoring the ‘Yes and No Local Government Chairmen’ back into the various councils in Osun State.”
The state government, in a statement issued by Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, asked security operatives to arrest and prosecute “anybody, no matter how highly placed, who may want to disrupt the current peace being enjoyed in our dear state.”
“Therefore, anybody who makes an attempt to gain entry into any of the council secretariats should be reported to the security agencies. Finally, we want to use this medium to inform the citizens of Osun State that barring any unforeseen circumstance, the local government election scheduled for February 22 will go on as planned,” he said.
