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Godwin Tsa, Abuja and Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, will, today, deliver judgment on the petition seeking to nullify the election of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Already, there is tension in the camp of both parties, who have stated arriving Abuja with their supporters for the judgment.
The Justice Ibrahim Sirajo-led three-man tribunal had, on March 7, reserved judgment on the petition after all the parties in the matter adopted their final briefs of argument.
The election petition was lodged before the tribunal by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke.
Justice Sirajo had informed all the parties that a date for the judgment would be communicated to them.
Adeleke and his political platform, the PDP, had, through their team of lawyers, led by Onyechi Ikpeazu, urged the tribunal to declare that Oyetola was not the valid winner of either the substantive election that was conducted on September 22, 2018, or the rerun election that took place on September 27, 2018.
However, Oyetola asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition for being unmeritorious and lacking in competence.
Meanwhile, governor Oyetola has urged chairmen of the Local Governments (LGs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to seek independent funding sources to develop their councils. He urged council bosses to develop workable means of generating revenue outside the statutory allocation, to cater for the critical needs of their people.
Oyetola said his administration was committed to actualising the objectives for which the councils were created. The governor said this, yesterday, in Osogbo, the state capital, while inaugurating the newly-built secretariat complex of Ila Central Local Council Development Area (ICLCDA), in Ila-Orangun.
He said one of the ways LGs and LCDAs could deliver on their mandate was to creatively increase their internally generated revenue, judiciously utilise their monthly allocations and deliver equitable services to the people.
He said the welfare of the people had been the priority of his administration, hence, the need for the leadership of the councils to allow the agenda of his administration in the areas of quality healthcare, functional and compulsory basic education, equitable infrastructure, economy and agriculture to get to the grassroots.
The ceremony was attended by former a governor, Bisi Akande, political and traditional rulers in the state.
Oyetola said: “It is our dream to deliver prosperity and development to the people, using the local councils as dependable allies and channels.
“We are committed to the development of all our councils as they remain the only veritable means of bringing sustainable development to every part of the state.
“The commissioning of the new secretariat of ICLCDA, today, is a challenge to other LCDAs to seek independent sources to deliver development to their people.
“It starts with building a structure where staff can think out innovations and initiatives and consequently deliver sectoral services to the people. The building of this complex, within few years of creation of the LCDA, is a robust testament to the seriousness the leadership of Ila Central LCDA places on governance and service to the people.”
