Osun state Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) will take necessary steps towards conducting local government elections in the State of the Living Spring and also kickstart electoral process soon,. The electoral umpire has also announced the election date.
Chairman of the commission, Barrister Hashim Akintunde Abioye, who disclosed this during the press conference he presided over in Osogbo on Thursday, submitted that the electoral process has been kick started.
‘I have invited you here today to announce to you that the process of electing new leaders in the 30 Local Governments, the Area Council, the 32 Local Council Development Authorities and the 6 Area Council Development Authorities in Osun state has been kick-started. As you all know that the core mandate of this Commission is to organize, supervise and conduct local government elections in the state, therefore, buoyed by the clear provisions of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) and fleshed up by the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the 2022 OSSIEC Law, Laws of Osun State, it is my pleasure to address this press conference that will publicly herald the election date and to unveil the time-table/schedule of activities for the elections’ he submitted while promising that OSSIEC will not falter on the side of due process and law on his watch.
He has also announced that the LG polls will hold next year.
‘We have painstakingly studied relevant electoral legislations and judicial precedents, we have also consulted with distinguished legal professionals, experienced technocrats and key stakeholders, and we are satisfied that there is no legal hurdle whatsoever inhibiting, restraining, prohibiting or clogging the wheel of this Commission from commencing the process of the local government elections in Osun State. I am therefore pleased to inform you that the radar is clear for this Commission to conduct elections into the 30 Local Governments, the Area Council, the 32 Local Council Development Authorities and the 6 Area Council Development Authorities across Osun State, insha Allah, on 22nd day of February, 2025’ he said
The OSSIEC chairman added that ‘the notice and timetable for the elections will soon be released which would be formally published in the dailies and widely circulated in the media’.
He also disclosed that he had on Wednesday met with the Osun state chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the leadership of the registered political parties for this same purpose.
‘But I did not announce the election date . I promised them that it will be held soon, and the ‘soon’ is done here in your presence. I did that deliberately because it is your job to disseminate the information to the whole world, not just the political parties’ he noted.
Barrister Hashim also said he has promised the IPAC member that he will be having collaborative engagements with them regularly while disclosing plans to establish the Osun state Local Government Electoral and Democratic Institute (OSLEDI) which will be a certificate- awarding Institute that will be responsible for organizing seminars, training, orientation and certification mandatorily, for elected local government officials and other critical stakeholders who are involved in local government democracy and who are interested in further learning.
‘This will ensure the sustainability of grassroots democratic values and it is aim towards bringing governance much closer to the grassroots. Better education and orientation, I believe, will help improve local government democracy’ he said.
He noted that the Osun state Local Government Electoral and Democratic Institute (OSLEDI) will come into being after necessary legislative and executive processes.
He also said things would be done in line with dictates of law on his watch while making reference to the local government elections held in 2022.
‘You are aware that in 2022, despite the red signal and the clear warnings against the conduct of the local government elections, this Commission under the then leadership went ahead, and the resources of the people of this state in billions of naira, went down the drain. Such an avoidable and senseless wastage which is capable of impoverishing this state will not happen under my leadership, by the grace of God. We are guided by the overriding provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the applicable provisions of the 2022 OSSIEC Law in drawing the time-table and schedule of activities’ he said -Team@orientactualmags.com
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