As the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission intensifies efforts to organize the upcoming local government elections, the Inter-Party Advisory Council has announced its decision to withdraw from the electoral process.
The announcement came on Monday from IPAC Chairman Pastor Victor Akande, who also serves as the state chairman of the Accord Party. Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo, Pastor Akande expressed the council’s lack of confidence in the leadership of Barrister Hassim Abioye, the newly appointed Chairman of OSIEC by Governor Senator Ademola Adeleke.
Pastor Akande argued that Barrister Abioye’s previous affiliation with the Peoples Democratic Party, the governor’s party, undermines his ability to oversee a fair and impartial election process. He contended that Abioye would act as a “puppet” for the PDP, serving only the interests of the ruling party rather than ensuring a transparent election.
“Our position then, as the Osun chapter of IPAC, was that Abioye is not legally fit to conduct free, fair, and credible local government elections in Osun. We opposed the brazen imposition of Abioye as the INEC umpire since he was Adeleke’s senior special assistant on legal matters,” Pastor Akande stated.
He recounted a previous meeting earlier this year where Abioye had promised to maintain integrity and ensure a fair election. However, Akande claimed that Abioye had failed to live up to those promises and was now scheming to use PDP members as Electoral Officers, which Akande argued would undermine the fairness of the election process.
“But alas, the leopard in him that cannot change its spots roared as we watched him deviate from all his promises of conducting a reliable election in the state. We have reliably gathered that Abioye has perfected plans to use PDP members as Electoral Officers during the election, which we all know what it means.”
Akande further criticized Abioye for not providing up-to-date information about the local government elections, contrasting this with the transparency he claimed was provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission. He accused the PDP-led administration of deliberately creating conditions that would discourage voter participation.
“We find it convenient to say that the PDP-led administration in the state is intentionally creating avenues for crises all over so as to scare our people away from the forthcoming council election, as only a secured mind will have the courage to go out to vote for his/her choice.”
He also noted that one IPAC member, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, had retracted its intention to participate in the elections, citing similar concerns about Abioye’s impartiality.
“One of us, the NNPP, that earlier wrote an intention letter for his party’s primary election has withdrawn the letter because we realised no good thing can come out of Abioye, who is Governor Adeleke’s stooge at OSIEC.”
In conclusion, IPAC resolved to withdraw from the forthcoming local government elections, a decision made after extensive discussions among party members.
“It is on these notes that we have resolved, after deliberations with our party members, to back out of the forthcoming local government election in Osun State,” Pastor Akande declared.