APC, PDP-led Osun govt biker over court of appeal ruling

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State Chapter and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP-led Osun State Government have presented different interpretations of a Court ruling made by the Court Appeal, sitting in Akure on the status of previously elected Local Government Chairmen and Councillors as the State prepares to conduct Local Council Poll on Saturday, February 22, 2025.

The then APC-led Government had on October 15, 2022 held election into the 30 Local Government Council Areas and the Area office but got sacked by a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo which was appealed by the party.

The APC, through Adegoke Ogunsola, its Legal Adviser, stated that Court of Appeal ruling on Monday reinstated the Llcal Government officials elected in 2022.

Ogunsola argued that the ruling nullified a Federal High Court decision that had previously voided the elections and removed the officials from office.

He said the State Government deliberately misrepresented the judgement.

Ogunsola said, “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.

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“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. We urge the members of the public to ignore the verbal leakages of Mr. Abioye and respect the sanctity of the court of law, the laws of the land and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

However, the State Government maintained that the Court of Appeal ruling did not reinstate any sacked officials.

In a statement by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, affirmed that the Local Government election scheduled for 22nd of February 2025 would go on as planned.

“The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to the judgement of Court of Appeal, delivered today, Monday, 10th of February,2025 wherein the originating summons filed by the PDP to challenge the validity of the election held on 15th of October 2022 was dismissed on the ground that the notice of the election had not been published by OSSIEC before the suit was filed.

“Therefore, we need to inform the entire citizens of Osun State, most especially, the Security Operatives and Heads of Local Government Administrations( HLA’s) to take note of the fact that, there is no judgement restoring the Yes and No Local Government Chairmen back into the various Local Government Councils in Osun State.

“Consequently, we urge the 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.

“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”, the statement partly read.