The recently completed local government election held in Osun State has been declared invalid by the Federal High Court located in the state capital of Osogbo.
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), chaired by Segun Oladitan, conducted the local government election on Saturday, October 15, 2022.
On Friday, Justice Ayo-Nathaniel Emmanuel of the Federal High Court in Osogbo ruled that the local government election was invalid, unlawful, and unconstitutional.
The election, he said, was not carried out in accordance with the Electoral Act of 2022.
He also mandated the immediate eviction of the newly sworn-in local government chairmen and councilors from their offices and secretariats.
The Osun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) responded to the court ruling by asserting that their agitation against the illegality of the departing Adegboyega Oyetola administration had been justified.
The Osun caretaker chairman of the party lamented that N1.5 billion that had been allocated for workers’ welfare was wasted by the Oyetola administration for the conduct of the election, in addition to several million Naira that had been unjustly paid as salaries and allowances to fictitious council chiefs, in a statement signed by Akindele Adekunle.
“We had issued a caution against conducting the phony election that they called. In an attempt to persuade OSIEC to withdraw from the anti-democratic plan, we had provided all pertinent legal authority. The Commission Chairman, a lawyer himself, made the decision to go against the letter of the law in order to oversee this blatant act of illegality.
“This decision confirms the accuracy of several alerts we have recently provided. The outgoing governor had intentionally broken several laws and engaged in lawlessness. The party head declared, “We will use every legal tool at our disposal to remedy the irregularities in conformity with public service policies, current laws, and the republic’s constitution.
