- Government orders security agencies to arrest those seeking to resume LG offices
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission and the All Progressives Congress in the state have given different interpretations to the judgment reportedly delivered by the Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State on Monday.
Following the judgment of a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in November, 2022, that nullified the election into the local councils in the state under the erstwhile administration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC and sacked the elected officials, the APC approached approached the Appellate Court and sought redress.
The chairman of the Osun APC, Tajudeen Lawal, said the Court of Appeal, in its judgment on Monday, reinstated the elected council chairmen and councillors “who were chased out of office by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s government over two years ago.”
Hailing the Justices for what he described as “a sound verdict delivered”, Lawal described it as a welcome development which has further proven the ‘power of “light over darkness.”
Recall that the local government officers who were elected on October 15, 2022 under the platform of the APC were sacked by Governor Ademola Adeleke on assumption of office.
Lawal in a statement issued by the APC Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, a copy of which was made available to The Point, argued that the implication of the judgment is that legal backing has been given to the “reinstated council officers to return to office with immediate effect.”
Similarly, the Legal Adviser of the APC in state, Adegoke Ogunsola,l said the Court of Appeal judgement has returned the sacked council leaders to their respective offices, adding that the judgement also indicated that no local government election can be held in Osun as planned by OSSIEC.
Ogunsola cautioned the OSSIEC Chairman, Hashim Abioye to “refrain from any act capable of undermining the integrity and sanctity of the judiciary in respect of the unambiguous verdict unanimously delivered by the Justices of the Court of Appeal siting in Akure.”
Disagreeing with the APC, OSSIEC chairman, Hashim Abioye, while addressing a press conference, said the Appeal Court judgment did not reinstate the sacked chairmen and neither did it stop the commission from conducting the February 22 local government elections in the state.
“The reasoning of the Appellate Court was that the suit was filed before the Notice of election was issued by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC). It must be noted that it was during the pendency of the said suit before the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 that the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) Law 2022 was enacted and the notice of election was issued.
“The Claimant in the case amended the originating summons to bring the suit in line with the developments which occurred during the pendency of the suit. The Federal High Court delivered its judgment in the suit on the 25th November, 2022, nullifying the election and sacking the purported elected officials.
“The affected political party All Progressive Congress (APC) and their purported candidates for the election appealed the judgment, and today the Court of Appeal delivered a judgment in the appeal striking out the suit for being speculative. No more to that at the Court of Appeal.
“However, by another judgment of the Federal High Court in suit No.: APP .v. INEC & ORS, the Federal High Court in a judgment delivered on 30th November, 2022 nullified the election and sacked the purported elected officials. The All Progressive Congress (APC), Allied People Movement (APM) and 1 other person appealed the judgment but later abandoned the appeal and same was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on the 13th January, 2025.
“To this effect, there is no order returning any purported elected officials of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to office as there is no Order of any Court reinstating them to office. In particular, there is no Order of any Court stopping the conduct of the election already scheduled by the Commission to hold on 22nd February, 2025.
“In specific terms, the thirty (30) Local Government Areas in Osun State remain vacant till date as there is a substituting decision of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal against the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its purported candidates,” Abioye opined.
But, APC counsel, Ogunsola, frowned at Abioye’s positions and warned him and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state to tread with cautions “as the judgment was cleared enough for the blind to read and deaf to hear.”
“Our attention has been drawn to a miscarriage issued by Mr. Hashim Abioye, the purported Chairman of Osun State Independent Electoral Commission which has been captured by the People’s Democratic Party government in Osun State.
“In the said miscarriage of Mr Abioye, he deliberately set out to misrepresent the purport and import of the decision of the Court of Appeal in the appeal decided today, the 10th day of February, 2025 as if the said decision did not reinstate the wrongly sacked APC Local Government Chairmen and Councilors.
“This is far from the truth as the Court of Appeal in unmistakable language nullified the decision of the Federal High Court which wrongly removed the elected Local Government Chairmen and Councilors from office.
“With the decision of the Court of Appeal, the terms of office of the Local Government Chairmen and Councilors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress in 2022 are still extant and have not expired.
“In the circumstance, no Local Government election can be held by the compromised OSIEC in February, 2025 to overreach the decision of the Court of Appeal and the preserved terms of the oppressed, denied and victimized Local Government Chairmen and Councilors who were duly elected in 2022,” he claimed.
Re-echoing OSSIEC’s stance, Osun State Government explained that “there is no judgement restoring the Yes and No Local Government Chairmen back into the various Local Government Councils in Osun State.”
The state government, in a statement issued by Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, asked security operatives to arrest and prosecute “anybody, no matter how highly placed, who may want to disrupt the current peace being enjoyed in our dear state.”
“We equally, urge all our HLAs to ensure that no intruder or political thug is allowed into the premises of any of our local governments in the state. Therefore, anybody who makes an attempt to gain entry into any of the council Secretariats should be reported to the security agencies.
“Finally, we want to use this medium to inform the citizens of Osun State that barring any unforeseen circumstance, the local government election scheduled for 22nd of February 2025 will go on as planned,” he said.