Thursday, March 28, 2024

Osun PDP mocks Oyetola, APC over low turnout at LG poll

BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO

The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has mocked the administration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola and the ruling All Progressives Congress over the conduct of the Local Government Area elections in the state on Saturday.

The party said citizens of the state shunned the process because it was a deliberate ploy by the state government to waste the state resources.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Akindele Adekunle, PDP claimed the council polls failed because there was voters apathy and also alleged that the insistence of the Osun Independent Electoral Commission to conduct the poll was a mockery of democracy.

Adekunle commended Osun people for “taking to its call to stay away from the ill-conceived council poll.”

Akindele noted that, “going by the attitude of Osun people, who largely stayed away from the sham put up by the outgoing APC administration, it is not too late for Oyetola to apologise and ensure that every penny expended on the failed exercise is returned to the state’s coffers.”

“Right from the start, the process was flawed and our efforts to make Oyetola understand this was not appreciated. Polling units across Osun state are either empty or the presence of scanty APC members are what greeted anyone who visited them.

“Ballot papers purportedly used does not specify political parties neither does it designate the local government it was meant for. These explains the curiosity of Osun people and observers, who wondered whether it was an election or referendum that the Oyetola administration conducted.

“To make matter worse is how known members of the APC are stationed as officials of the OSSIEC, making mockery of the essence of democracy and bringing to focus the outgoing administration’s desperation to foist itself on the people.

“At the height of the sham is the random ticking of voter’s register without the physical presence of the person on the voter’s register, to the extent of ticking the names of the dead in many instances.

“The summary of what happened today (Saturday) was that Osun people do not accept the sham disguised as election, and as a party, we are proud of their courage and resoluteness in rejecting a dangerous precedent that posed grave danger to our state.

“We reiterate our warning that the PDP will do away with all the illegal officials that is produced from this exercise and want to make it clear that the incoming administration will ensure that everyone involved in this shameful act will not escape the wrath of the law just as every penny expended on it will be recovered”, the State Caretaker Chairman posited.

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