By Ade Adeloye, Ibadan
The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) on Sunday announced results of the council poll held on Saturday, April 27, where the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state won all the chairmanship seats in 33 local government areas of the state.
OYSIEC chairman, Aare Isiaka Olagunju (SAN), the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebola Hamzat and other security agencies in the state commended conduct of the poll, describing it as free, fair, credible and violence-free.
However, All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has said the council election was a sham capable of causing the state untold disrepute if allowed to Stand!.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has described the ongoing local government council election as a sham which is capable of causing the Pacesetter state untold disrepute if allowed to stand “and for this not to happen, the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has to halt the exercise and reschedule it for another day when it is ready to conduct a free, fair and credible poll.
Reports from across the state indicate that cases of non-availability of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortage of voting materials, violence and threat to life were recorded while the electoral commission appear d helpless to rescue the situation even as voters waited endlessly in most the places affected.
In a statement issued on Saturday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC regretted that “another opportunity to deepen democracy and return power to the people at the grassroots has had to be missed due to the insensitivity and insincerity on the part of the ruling class in the state.
“With what is happening at the moment in most Polling Units across the state, Gov. Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.
“Even if OYSIEC comes out later to declare all the candidates of the APC, we would not rate this election as credible and acceptable as it falls below the minimum global standard of election conduct. The best thing is for the Commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for a proper conduct rather continue to connive with a few anti-democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land.
