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Accord, LP Flay Ajimobi Over Delayed Council Poll

By Gbenga Akinfenwa
30 August 2015   |   2:50 am
OPPOSITION parties in Oyo State have described the non-conduct of Local Government election in the state, in the last four years, as unconstitutional, illegal, and anti-people, which is capable of causing untold hardship for the people at the grassroots.
Ajimobi

Ajimobi

OPPOSITION parties in Oyo State have described the non-conduct of Local Government election in the state, in the last four years, as unconstitutional, illegal, and anti-people, which is capable of causing untold hardship for the people at the grassroots.

They described Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s attitude towards the poll as a deliberate ploy to remain in control of the councils, without taking into consideration the welfare of the people at the third tier of government. One of the parties, Accord, claimed that if caretaker committees, which are ‘illegal administration’, could thrive for four years, that shows the kind of leadership the governor is offering the state.

According to the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, Ajimobi’s action is “unconstitutional, illegal, condemnable and anti-people.

That has always been the position of our political party. We cried for four years, but he did not listen to anybody. “We did a lot of shouting, but when you are talking to a deaf and dumb person what do you expect? He knows the reason why he is doing that, it is because he will only distribute money to the caretaker officials and do whatever he likes with the remaining money in the name of State/Local Government Joint Account.

This is illegal and inhuman.” Adeniran lamented that for the four years of the governor’s first term, nothing was done at the grassroots for the development of the people, because the officials only listened to the governor and not the people they ought to be governing.

He stated that it is unfortunate that it is the masses that are suffering, as the state is already in shambles in terms of development. “Go to the rural areas, you’ll see people suffering because the local government is not just there, they are just there as figure heads because they are not elected and they don’t listen to people.”

While noting that he doesn’t have any confidence in Ajimobi to conduct council poll or take any positive step, he claimed that the governor is running a government that thrives on making people sad and creating untold hardship. “That is what he specialises in and that is what he is doing.

He does that for four years and he has already started it since he came back for his second term, don’t expect anything better from him, that’s all. For the Labour Party (LP), the action of the governor is a breach of the constitution.

The chairman of the party, Gbenga Olayemi said the position of his party on the matter is that the composition of caretaker committees at the council level is illegal. “The position of the party is very clear.

The country has a constitution, which clearly stated that there should be elected officers at the local government level to manage the affairs of the councils.

Anything short of that is illegal. For four years, what we have been witnessing is illegal government at the third tier of government. So we want a situation whereby the state government would put in place the necessary machinery, to ensure we have elected people to manage the affairs of the councils. “When the people elect their leaders, we would have a situation where the officials would be responsible to the people, but what we have in the last four years are illegal acts.

They have been responsible to the governor and not to the people; that is the reason why we have not witnessed any development at the grassroots. We are calling for a free and fair election, whereby people would vote for whoever they want at that level,” he said.

He noted that in case the governor plans to run another four years without conducting the poll, his party would take steps to compel him to act otherwise, which would be in line with the constitution and what the majority of the people want.

But the Director of Publicity and Strategy of APC in the state, Wale Shadare linked the delay to earlier court cases. “I am very much aware that there are quite a number of cases relating to the composition of members of the State Electoral Commission, OYSIEC.

Until all the cases are resolved, there is no way this administration can go ahead with the conduct of the poll. “If such action is taken, it would amount to illegality.

We also have quite a number of our eligible party members who are eager to vie for positions in the local government administration, we have members who are trying as much as possible to ensure that their ambitions are realised. “We are hoping that the court would at a no distance time do justice to all the cases and once that is done, the election would be conducted.”

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