The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has postponed the state’s local government election, scheduled for July 13, citing political parties’ non-compliance with guidelines.
ODIEC’s spokesperson, Joseph Aremo, announced the indefinite postponement of the polls during a meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) at the commission’s office in Akure on Monday.
He said the political parties have yet to nominate candidates for the exercise.
“Ours is to conduct an election that will usher in a democratic government at the local level. It’s unfortunate that no single party complied with the guidelines for the election.
“We are yet to receive the nomination of candidates, yet to verify and release it to the public for scrutiny,” he stated.
The postponement came after IPAC threatened not to participate in the local government election due to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s alleged refusal to meet with them.
IPAC’s chairman, Adesanya Olaoluwa, explained that despite entreaties by the council’s leadership, the governor allegedly refused to interface with the political parties participating in the poll.
“They now know our reasons. We want to see Mr Govenor (Aiyedatiwa). It is not that we don’t have trust in ODIEC; we all know that they can perform credible election,” Mr Olaoluwa said.
The state electoral body had issued the election guidelines that accommodated the proposed 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
However, this came before the Akure Division of the State High Court nullified the 33 LCDAs created by late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Justice A.O Adebusuoye, who scrapped the LCDAs in his verdict, described the local councils as “inchoate and unlawfully” created by Mr Akeredolu.
The court held that it was illegal for a governor to sign a law outside the state, stating that the Local Government Creation Law 2023, signed by the late governor in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, outside the state, was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
Peoples Gazette reports that Mr Akerdolu, who was diagnosed with cancer, assented to the bill to create the 33 LCDAs on September 9, 2023, from the 18 constitutionally recognised 18 LGAs in the state.
The bill for the creation of the newly created LCDAs was presented to the late governor by the speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Oladiji Olamide, at the governor’s residence in Ibadan, Oyo capital city.
