The candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the local government election in Osun State have been declared winners of the 30 LGAs and 323 wards.
Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), Hashim Abioye announced the result after the exercise on Saturday.
He said, “It was conducted in compliance with constitutional provisions and extant laws, regulations and guidelines. The election was conducted to fill the existing vacancies in the 332 wards and 30 local government areas in Osun State.
“The election was contested by 18 political parties and results have been submitted to the commission. The available results as obtained from the field, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 332 wards emerged as winners.
“For the 30 local government areas of Osun State, the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cleared all the seats.”
The commission relied on a judgement of the Osun State High Court in Ilesa which ordered the electoral agency to conduct elections for the vacant positions of chairmen and councillors in the 30 LGAs.
The exercise commenced in some local governments as early as 8 am on Saturday in all the 30 local councils in the South-West state including in the Ede North LGA where Governor Ademola Adeleke cast his vote.
The governor, after performing the civic responsibility, described the exercise as peaceful.
“The process has been very peaceful. I made a broadcast to my good people of Osun State that this election should be peaceful, there should be no violence because Osun State is a very peaceful state,” he said.
The leading opposition parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party boycotted the exercise, after announcing their withdrawal on Friday.
THE BACK STORY
It is mentionworthy that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, had earlier said the election should not be held as a recent court ruling has reinstated the former council chairmen and councillors, who were sacked by the Governor Adeleke’s administration.
The Minister of Justice also declared that no local government election should take place in Osun because there are no vacancies in the local councils until October 2025.
Also, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun late Friday night put out a warning/advisory for the elections to be put on hold, citing intelligence report of impending violence during the election.
However, the election held, though with a visible scanty voter participation, but also with no record of violence.
NEW DAILY PRIME reported that a ruling by the Osun State High Court in Osogbo on Friday afternoon, granted approval for the election to proceed.
In an enrolment order brought before Justice A. Aderibigbe on Friday by the PDP against OSIEC and its Chairman, Hashim Abioye, Justice A. Aderibigbe ruled that vacancies exist in all 30 local government areas of the state, as affirmed by a Federal High Court ruling.
The court found that the local government election conducted on October 15, 2022, by the 1st Defendant (OSIEC) had been invalidated, nullified, and voided, rendering the purportedly elected officials illegitimate. The Federal High Court in case FHC/CS/OS/103/2022 (Action Peoples Party vs. INEC & Others) had earlier ruled on November 30, 2022, that the election was unlawful. This decision was further upheld by the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/AK/226M/2024 (Allied Peoples Movement vs. Action Peoples Party & Others), delivered on January 13, 2025.
Consequently, the court upheld the PDP’s prayers, affirming that vacancies indeed exist in Osun State’s local councils and allowing the election to proceed.
Additionally, the court ordered security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Amotekun Corps, and local vigilante groups to provide adequate security before, during, and after the election.
While the ruling PDP announced its readiness to contest the election on Friday, the APC stayed off, relying on a directive from Abuja stating that no such election should be held at this time. The Labour Party also cited lack of confidence in the OSIEC to conduct a free, fair and credible election as its reason for boycotting the polls.
