-Says Only APC Has Candidates
Ismaeel Uthman
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) has disclosed that only the All Progressives Congress (APC) has councilorship and chairmanship candidates in today’s local government election in the state.
Chairman of the commission, Mr Segun Oladitan, in an interview with OSUN DEFENDER today, said other political parties which had indicated interest in the election, failed to submit candidates as of the last day of nomination.
OSUN DEFENDER had asked the OSIEC Chairman to explain why the ballot papers used for the election contain ‘Yes or No’, instead of names of political parties participating in the poll.
But Oladitan said the election was only for chairmanship position, revealing that the councillorship candidates had been declared elected unopposed after the closing of nomination.
He said: “What we have done is the requirement of the law. At the beginning, 16 political parties attended meeting with us on the election. But at the close of nomination; only one political party has candidates in all the wards and local governments.
“As of the close of nomination, the councilors have been declared elected unopposed. But because the chairmanship position requires other tests, a section of the Electoral Act demands that there should be a Yes or No vote.
“Because there were numbers of political parties before, the moment a candidate becomes the only candidate, he has become the candidate of the whole community; so, his popularity has to be tested.
“So, in this election, what we have put in position is Electoral Act, 2022.”
