Osun

Appeal Court Judgment: Apologise To Osun People Now – OSSIEC Boss To AGF, IGP

ByOlamilekan Adigun

PublishedJune 13, 2025

Says Commission Has Been Vindicated

The chairman of Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), Barrister Hashim Abioye, has said the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun owe the people of Osun an apology for their role in attempting to stop the February 22, 2025 local government election.

Abioye said the judgment of the Appeal Court, which dismissed the case filed by the All Progressives Congress to relist its earlier dismissed appeal, has vindicated the commission.

The OSSIEC boss, in a statement on Friday, said despite intimidation and harassment of staff, the Commission held a credible local government election, which has been upheld by Friday’s judgement.

“The AGF and IGP owe the people of Osun State sincere apologies. They can make good their position by offering good advice and instruction conscientiously and appropriately.

“The judgment of the Court of Appeal today has brought relief after so much pain inflicted by desperate actors. The siege is now over, and we can all sing songs of praise to God for seeing us through the due electoral process we embarked upon, which was a standard gauge for integrity, transparency, and credibility. The siege is now over,” he said.

Abioye said the judgment has confirmed that at the time the Commission, under his leadership, commenced the process of the February 2025 local government election throughout the period of the election, vacancies did exist in Osun local council political offices.

“The constitutional mandate of this Commission is to organise and supervise conduct of local government elections at the due time. This mandate we effectively and responsibly discharged by giving a notice of election in full compliance with relevant electoral laws and in total fidelity to applicable regulations and guidelines.

“However, in what appeared to be an outlandish postulation and a deliberate manipulation, some saboteurs made attempts to frustrate the conduct of the election by forcing on us a bizzare situation- a false claim of reinstatement and a bogus claim of “NO VACANCY”. The dangerous actors had twisted the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on 10th February 2025 by importing into same what was not therein contained.

“They cleverly invented the word “reinstatement”, then they enlisted and unfortunately got the backing of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun who collaborated together to jeopardize the process of the local government election which was commenced since about a year before these manipulative theatrics. OSSIEC office was sealed by the police on the order of the IGP, acting on the “advice” of the AGF.

“As a matter of fact, the Force Headquarters through the PPRO made a release at the election eve, warning against holding the election. It must be noted that the advice of the AGF and the directive by the IGP afforded some political actors the opportunity to fire open threats at the Commission and its staff some hours to the election.

“There were also some incidents of arrest, harassment, intimidation, and molestation of some of the staff engaged by the Commission. On the order of the IGP, banking on the advice of the AGF, NOT on any court order, OSSIEC premises was sealed up, thank God for our alertness and proactiveness as we sensed all of the game, hence we deployed a strategy by the grace of God, and it worked. The election was held peacefully and successfully; winners emerged and were duly issued certificates of returns,” Abioye added.

The OSSIEC boss added that the AGF and the IGP ignored a subsisting judgement and encouraged the derision of a valid judgment of the Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, which declared that vacancies existed and that OSSIEC should go ahead to fill the vacancies.

“The AGF and the IGP for obvious reasons, ignored a subsisting decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing the appeal by a political party in yet another judgment which nullified the 2022 Osun State local government elections. Sadly, again, they both derided and encouraged the derision of a valid judgment of the Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, which declared that vacancies existed and that OSSIEC should go ahead to fill the vacancies across all the local council areas of Osun State.

“This has been the situation up until today when the same Court of Appeal gave its verdict, which in crystal clear terms implied that there was no reinstatement. “This, to us, was a vindication of our conviction and a validation of our action all along. Our commitment to due process and rule of law was turned against us by political actors unfortunately backed by some super political powers and persons in authority.

“We suffered condemnations, tribulations, and accusations in the hands of manipulators. Alhamdulillah today, the siege is over.

“Let me reiterate that our products of 22nd February 2025 are the only legitimate officials who are to function as political heads of the respective Osun local councils. Dealing with any other persons or category of persons is an aberration and a big risk. This is a “CAVEAT EMPTOR” note to all persons and authorities that only the winners of the Osun 2025 local government elections who have been duly sworn in are the legitimate officials,” the OSSIEC boss noted.

Olamilekan Adigun

Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.