In this interview with WALE AKINSELURE, chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), Barrister Isiaka Olagunju (SAN) speaks on the commission’s preparations ahead of the local government election in Oyo State scheduled for April 27, 2024.
How many political parties are fielding candidates in the forthcoming local government elections in Oyo State?
All the parties are fielding candidates for the forthcoming local government elections. And all the major parties have their spread in all the 33 local government areas of the state, that is, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Action Democratic Party (ADC). We have about six political parties that have candidates across the local governments. Some of the other parties that are participating don’t have the spread in all the state but they have a substantial spread in the local government areas of the state. Some have about two thirds; some have candidates where they perceive as strongholds. Campaigns have started, though not all-out yet. So, what remains is for us to publish the names of the successful candidates which we are going to do by the 5th of December, 2023.
You were head of the commission that conducted the last local government election. Going by your evaluation of that election, what is looking different, in the run-up to the forthcoming election when compared to the last exercise?
Let’s start from participation. You will recall that the last time, we had several court cases against the election. I am happy to inform you that, as of today, there is no single court case against the election. All the political parties are united in participating in the election. It is a great feat that no single party is dissociating itself and all the parties are participating in the election. If you look at the history of electiosn for the past 20 years, there has always been one boycott or the other from one political party. But, this time around, the entire parties are participating. The opposition parties are also participating. That is the trust and confidence they have in the commission. By God’s grace, we don’t want to betray that trust. We are hoping that everything goes on well and peaceful, with credibility and fairness to all parties. Also, we are starting earlier. By the end of December, we will have been done with our adhoc staff. So, by January, we are coming in with the training of our adhoc staff. By February, March, all the things that we need will be on ground for us to have a credible election. The date for the election remains 27th April, 2024.
Funding is critical for you to carry out your plans. To what extent have you got funding from the state government?
So far, we don’t have any problem in terms of funding. At the stage we are for the election, everything is going fine. At our treasury meeting last week, our budget for 2024 has been approved. We have been advised to submit our requisition as early as possible, in January, so that the money can be released to us as quickly as possible for us to prosecute the election. As of now, we don’t have any problem in terms of funding.
Aside from your preparations, security agencies are crucial for successful conduct of any election. What synergy, arrangement do you have with security agencies for the election?
That is one area we want to put all our efforts on now. We have contacted all the security agencies. We contacted particularly the police and the Commissioner of Police personally called me to pledge his support for the commission. We are supposed to meet but we have not been able to meet because of other security exigencies that the police are facing. But by January, we want to visit the entire security machinery in order to involve them in ensuring that we have adequate security before, during and after the election.
Voter apathy is always an issue during elections. How does your commission plan to deal with the trend?
Voter apathy is an aspect we are giving serious attention to. But, we are pleading with the electorate to trust the commission. We are promising that, by God grace, we will be transparent, fair and credible to all political parties and their votes will count.
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