Sixteen opposition political parties in Osun State have announced their withdrawal from the upcoming local government election.
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) had previously scheduled the next local government election for February 22, 2025.
Speaking to journalists in Osogbo on Monday, Mr. Victor Akande, the Osun State chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee, accused OSSIEC chairman Mr. Hashim Abioye of withholding crucial information about the election from the parties. Akande also alleged that Abioye planned to use PDP members as electoral officers and had not disclosed the nomination fees for the posts to be contested.
“We have reliable information that Abioye intends to employ PDP members as Electoral Officers during the election, which implies a biased process. His strategy seems to be trapping us into conducting primary elections without revealing the required fees, only to announce an exorbitant amount later,” Akande said.
Akande criticized Abioye for not providing timely updates, in contrast to the practices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and accused the PDP-led administration of intentionally creating crises to discourage voter participation. As a result, the opposition parties decided to withdraw from the election.
The withdrawing parties include Action Alliance, African Democratic Congress, Accord Party, Social Democratic Party, African Action Congress, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Allied Peoples Party, Peoples Redemption Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Zenith Labour Party, Action Democratic Party, Action Peoples Party, Labour Party, Boot Party, National Rescue Movement, and Young Peoples Party.
Reacting to these allegations, Abioye dismissed them as unfounded, stating that the commission was still consulting stakeholders before finalizing nomination fees and appointing electoral officers.
“It is unfortunate. I have only announced our intention as part of the preparatory steps towards conducting the election. We are at the stage of appointing electoral officers and assistant electoral officers, and no list has been drawn yet,” Abioye explained. “We will consult the political parties about the appointment of electoral officers and the nomination fees. All these allegations are unfounded. I urge the media to ask the IPAC chairman to provide evidence of any names already listed as electoral officers.”
