The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) announced on Thursday that the commission will conduct elections in the 30 local government council areas, the area council, the 32 local council development authorities, and the 6 area council development authorities across the state on the 22nd day of February 2025.
The Chairman of the Commission, Barrister Hashim Akintunde Abioye, who made this known at a press conference in Osogbo, stated that “the notice and timetable for the elections will soon be released, as the same will be formally published in the dailies and widely circulated in the media.”
According to him, “OSSIEC under this new leadership will not falter on the side of due process and law. We have painstakingly studied relevant electoral legislation and judicial precedents; we have also consulted with distinguished legal professionals, experienced technocrats, and key stakeholders, and we are satisfied that there is no legal hurdle whatsoever inhibiting, restraining, prohibiting, or clogging the wheel of this Commission from commencing the process of the local government elections in Osun State.”.
” As such, the media being a part of the critical stakeholders and their role being cardinal in the electoral process, this Commission has deemed it fit and proper to carry all of you along, using this avenue not only to announce the date and activities for the elections but also to seek your full cooperation throughout the process to make it a huge success in the end.”
“The notice and timetable for the elections will soon be released, as the same will be formally published in the dailies and widely circulated in the media. As such, the media being a part of the critical stakeholders and their role being cardinal in the electoral process, this Commission has deemed it fit and proper to carry all of you along, using this avenue not only to announce the date and activities for the elections but also to seek your full cooperation throughout the process to make it a huge success in the end. ”
“Yesterday, the Commission had an interface with the Osun State Chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the leadership of the registered political parties for this same purpose, but I did not announce the date of the elections. I promised them soon, and the “soon” is here in your presence. I did that deliberately because it is your job to disseminate the information to the whole world, not just the political parties.”.
“I have promised them that I will be having collaborative engagements with them over time and will not leave them sideways throughout the entire process. My promise to you too, distinguished members of the fourth and fifth estates of the realm, is that I will carry you along every step of the way in the entire process. I would like to adapt my address to the IPAC/leadership of the registered political parties yesterday for you to have an insight into the kernel of our meeting yesterday: ”
“By way of a reminder, the Osun State House of Assembly, in pursuance of Paragraphs 11 & 12, both of Part II, Second Schedule to the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended), taking cognizance of relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, enacted the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Law, 2022, with provisions empowering the Commission to conduct elections into the Local Government Councils, the Area Council, the Local Council Development Areas, and Area Council Development Authorities across Osun State.”
“The 2022 OSSIEC Law provides for the establishment, management, administrative structures, functions, and responsibilities of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, and empowers the Commission to issue guidelines, regulations, and procedures for the conduct of local government elections in Osun State. This is the constitutional and legal status quo as far as state electoral bodies are concerned in Nigeria today.”
“Let me also acknowledge that the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), as established by the Code of Conduct for Political Parties, is an association of all Nigerian registered political parties. The key function of the IPAC at all times is to advise and work harmoniously with the Commission (in this sense, the Commission means INEC and various state electoral commissions).”.
” Note that the jurisdictional sphere of IPAC does not extend to dishing out instructions or directives to the Commission, but to work harmoniously with the Commission and to ensure that all the guidelines, regulations, and procedures spelt out for the conduct of elections are being related to and followed religiously by political parties. It is at the IPAC level that each political party will carry and spread the gospel to their respective members, representatives, loyalists, and supporters.”
In essence, this Commission is clothed with the requisite constitutional legitimacy and adorned with the necessary legal amulets to go ahead with the process of the elections. Happily, the Commission has struck a deal with IPAC for collaborative engagements, free flow of information, peace, mutual understanding, and cooperation.
“It is Commission’s right to organise, supervise, and conduct local government elections in Osun State; therefore, buoyed by the clear provisions of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) and fleshed up by the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the 2022 OSSIEC Law, Laws of Osun State, it is my pleasure to address this press conference to publicly herald the date of the elections and to unveil the timetable and schedule of activities for the elections.
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