Kazeem Badmus
THE Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) has stated that the next council elections in the state will be Presidential, as against the Parliamentary system held in 2018.
The Chairman of OSSIEC, Otunba Olusegun Oladitan, stated this on Tuesday, during the commencement of a 3-day retreat for management staff of the commission.
Oladitan said the State Assembly has enacted laws to accommodate the change and the commission shall start working on existing legislations.
He said: “Before, the local government administration in the state was Parliamentary system. But before the inauguration of this commission last year, the State Assembly has amended that provisions of the legislation. You cannot blame the Assembly, since all the states in the country are operating Presidential and Osun must not be an aberration.
“So the coming elections will be Presidential and we shall be having two ballot papers as against one had in 2018.”
When asked when the elections will hold, Oladitan said: “As you can see, we have started the process with this retreat. Election is a series of activities and the commission has started working on that. The law says the commission shall give 90-day notice. As soon as I do that, the process has begun.”
Speaking on the importance of the retreat, the election umpire said the 3-day retreat was organised for the commission members and the Management Staff to have a robust service delivery and promote efficiency in OSSIEC.
He added: “The retreat is designed to awaken members of the commission and the Management Staff to their responsibility and ginger them to effectively perform their roles at the forthcoming Local Government Elections in the state.
“It could also be described as a panacea to have an efficient and effective Election Management Body (EMB).
“The focus of OSSIEC is to have a free, fair and credible local government election in the State of Osun. And this could only be achieved where the commission members, management staff and other categories of staff are fully aware of their responsibility.”
