The Acting Chair man of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Hon. Adejare Bello, has said that there is need for the ACN government in the state to heed the call for local government election in Osun State.
A recent statement credited to the ACN Chairman that the PDP goofed by calling for the composition of the State Independent Electoral Commission informed the call by Bello.
Hon Bello said the excuse of the ACN government for not putting in place the State Independent Electoral Commission, due to a pending appeal suit, was not tenable.
The fact that the ACN leadership claims that it was Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola that disbanded the former OSSIEC shows that the ruling party in Osun State has forgotten the chronology of events.
Bello said “it does not matter that because the issue is pending at the Court of Appeal, the governor must not constitute a new OSSIEC because there is no motion restraining the governor from doing so.”
He cited the cases of Kogi and Bayelsa States, where cases are pending in court, even in matters concerning governorship elections, and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to plan for elections since no court order has restrained the electoral body from performing its duty.
“The statement that it was Oyinlola who disbanded the former OSSIEC is a lie because Oyinlola left office in November, while the judgement that is being appealed was handed down in December by Justice Jide Falola of the Osun State High Court.”
Calling on the ACN leadership not to mislead Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Bello noted that between 1999 and 2003 when Chief Bisi Akande was the governor, he appointed Caretaker Committees for local governments in Osun State only once.
He also recalled that under Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola between 2003 and 2010, there were caretaker committees two times at different instances when it was not possible to hold election.
The PDP boss said that '' the law of Osun State is that, if it becomes practically impossible for local government election to hold, the governor, with the approval of the House of Assembly, shall constitute caretaker committees for the local governments, renewable for another six months, and no more''.
According to Adejare Bello by March 1, 2012, all local government functionaries in Osun State will be operating and spending funds illegally, stressing that, ''this is not a party issue, but procedures.
Bello said if truly the ACN is confident of winning elections like it scored 100% in the April 2011 National and State Assemblies election, it should not suddenly develop a cold feet on local government elections.
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