The local government elections held to produce new leaders at the local government level in Osun state on Saturday was largely peaceful as no violence was recorded anywhere in the state.
There was however voter apathy in some places apparently because it was an uncontested election that had the APC candidates being guaranteed of getting elected.
Talking to journalists after casting his ballot, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola expressed optimism about the political future of Nigeria, saying against all odds, democracy had continued to thrive in the country.
The governor , who voted at his polling unit, Ward 1 Unit 002, Iragbiji, Boripe Local Government , described the entire electoral process as peaceful, orderly and rancour-free.
This, he noted, was an indication that the nation’s democracy ‘is thriving and progressing steadily’.
He also hailed the electoral body, Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSIEC, for its resolve and commitment to ensuring a free, fair, transparent, credible and acceptable electoral process.
The Governor noted that he was satisfied with the existing peaceful atmosphere in the state while lauding security agencies for maintaining adequate security at all the polling units.
‘I thank God that 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 at virtually all the polling units in the state.
Local government elections 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.
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 enabling 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 arrived on time at the polling units.
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.
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Commissioner for Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Adebayo Adeleke, who also voted at ward 11 unit 4, Iree, expressed satisfaction with the process.
Osun state PDP in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com on Saturday by its Chairman, Dr Akindele Adekunle, however called the local government elections a sham while submitting that the prospective winners of the LG polls will be sacked next month.
‘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 apologize 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.
Ballot papers purportedly used did not specify political parties or 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 a referendum that the Oyetola administration conducted.
To make matters worse is how known members of the APC were 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 state people do not accept the sham disguised as an election, and as a party, we are proud of their courage and resoluteness in rejecting a dangerous precedent that poses a 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’ the party said.
While stating that every penny expended on the local government elections will be recovered, the state PDP also said the prospective winners of the LG polls will be sent packing next month.
Following the development recorded on Saturday what will become a central issue for Osun state indigenes and residents , political pundits and legal experts in the next few days will be the political and legal implications of an uncontested election.
They will also debate whether the boycott of an election can invalidate its outcome- Team@orientactualmags.com
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