From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene and forestall the breakdown of law and order following the local government crisis in the state.
He appealed to the president to prevent those planning to cause trouble over the fresh ruling of the Court of Appeal, Akure division, on the 2022 local government election in the state.
Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), in a statement yesterday, noted that the appellate court ruling of Friday had started generating tension across the state.
The former lawmaker in the state noted that the Court of Appeal in its wisdom struck out a request by the APC to re-list its appeal against the 2022 Federal High Court that nullified local government elections, explaining that the court did not nullify the judgement delivered on February 10, which reinstated the party’s chairmen and councillors.
He said the misinterpretation given to the ruling by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state government may result in a crisis across the 30 local government areas in the state, if not quickly checked.
According to him, the interpretation given to the ruling by the state government that they now have the control of the local government areas and the planned invasion of the secretariats on Monday will result in a crisis.
He warned that the elected APC chairmen and councillors would resist any unlawful invasion of the secretariat, which they are currently occupying, saying that the only way the crisis could be averted is for Tinubu to intervene by ordering the deployment of more security agencies to the state.
He recalled that lives lost to the local government crisis on February 17 were still fresh in the minds of the residents, warning that such should not be allowed to happen again.
“We don’t want any bloodshed in the state again and that is why I am calling on the President to intervene swiftly to avoid loss of lives.
“The open declaration by PDP members to invade the council secretariats in the state today can lead to mayhem and that is not what we need at the moment,” he said.