Ten years after last council polls, Oyo holds new elections in May

Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan |

More than 10 years after the last council poll was conducted in Oyo State, the State Independent  Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has fixed Saturday, May 12, for election into the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs) of the southern state.

Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Jide Ajeigbe, disclosed this when he addressed a press conference on the rescheduled council poll at the OYSIEC office, Agodi, Ibadan on Friday.

Saturday Sun gathered that the last time council poll were conducted in the state was on December 15, 2007, and the vacuum has always been filled with caretaker chairmen as a result of prolonged litigation.

The announcement came barely three months after Governor Abiola Ajimobi vowed to conduct the poll at the swearing-in of the current 68 caretaker chairmen of local governments and LCDAs at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office on Thursday, November 9, 2017.

Ajeigbe assured citizens of the Commission’s commitment to be an impartial and unbiased umpire, appealing to the various stakeholders to work hard, be focused and play by the rules to ensure a free, fair and credible elections.

He stated that the poll would have been conducted last year, but for an injunction of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that prevented the Commission from conducting the election.

Ajeigbe recalled that he had addressed a press conference on January 19, 2017, “after which we rolled out our time-table to conduct local government elections in the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas.

“However, the elections could not hold as planned, consequent upon Federal High Court Abuja verdict on the order of injunction. I am happy to inform you that the injunction order has been lifted and, God willing, any time from now we will conduct the election into 33 local council areas and 35 local council developments areas as earlier scheduled.”

Ajeigbe noted that a credible and fair election “is possible under a peaceful and conducive environment in which pressmen have a greater role to play. Let me reiterate this Commission’s unwavering commitment to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in Oyo State. We will play our role as an impartial and unbiased umpire.”