•Abioye A Known PDP Member, Is Neutrality Doubted – Lawal
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has again expressed doubt over the credibility of the forthcoming Local Government elections in the state, accusing the chairman of the state Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, of being a PDP member.
APC said OSSIEC was deliberately frustrating opposition parties’ efforts in the upcoming elections, scheduled for February 22, 2025.
Osun Defender had reported that OSSIEC through its chairman, Hashim Abioye, warned that candidates of the APC and two other political parties may be disqualified due to infractions.
Abioye, while presenting the report of the commission’s verification committee to journalists in Osogbo on Wednesday, said nearly all the 18 political parties that nominated candidates committed one infraction or the other.
He said the affected political parties failed to properly nominate candidates for the chairmanship positions in seven local government areas.
But the APC Chairman in the state, Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement on Friday, expressed concerns about OSSIEC’s handling of the nomination process for local government chairmanship, vice-chairmanship, and councillorship candidates.
According to the Lawal, “OSSIEC had issued a 48-hour ultimatum for parties to correct alleged infractions in the nomination process in nine local government areas, including Atakumosa-West, Ede-South, Egbedore, Ife-Central, Ifedayo, Isokan, Olorunda, and Oriade.”
Lawal said despite its efforts to meet the deadline, “OSSIEC offices were unexpectedly closed by 2:15 pm on September 19, 2024, preventing the submission of the required documents.
“All attempts to contact the commission were futile, as no officials were available for the necessary administrative processes,” the APC noted in its statement.
The party chairman alleged that the irregularities flagged by OSSIEC were a result of the Commission’s own administrative failures.
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He also accused the state electoral umpire of rushing to the press without conducting a thorough fact-check.
“We question OSSIEC’s impartiality. Barrister Abioye is a known member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and had previously contested for a PDP seat in the Ifelodun State Constituency in 2023.
“We have also challenged Abioye’s appointment in court, citing conflict of interest.
“The conduct of OSSIEC is clearly aimed at frustrating the APC’s participation in the election,” Lawal claimed.
While raising concerns over the delayed release of election guidelines by OSSIEC, he revealed that repeated requests for certified copies of the guidelines by the APC had been ignored or rejected.
“In one instance, OSSIEC refused to acknowledge a formal request sent via courier, further fueling the APC’s suspicion of bias.
“The actions of OSSIEC under Barrister Hashim Abioye cast serious doubt on the commission’s ability to conduct free, fair, and credible elections,” he said.
Lawal warned that the APC would resist any attempts to undermine its candidates through all constitutionally acceptable means.
“We shall employ all constitutionally acceptable means to ensure that the candidates of our party are not victimised by a pungently compromised electoral body that is not acting in tandem with its supposed independent attribute.
“Part of the reasons why we are smelling a rat about the independent nature of the Hashim-led OSSIEC is not limited to facts stated above”, the Osun State APC chairman stated.
