A High Court sitting in Ilesa, on Friday, February 21, 2025, ordered the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, (OSSIEC), to conduct elections into the vacant positions of Local Government chairmen and councillors in the 30 Councils and the area offices in the State.
The Court order was sequel to a suit brought before it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the political parties participating in the election.
The order came just the OSSIEC said it has concluded arrangements for the conduct of the local government election slated for this Saturday, February 22, 2025.
The Court held that the election conducted by the 1st Defendant on October 15, 2022, having been invalidated, nullified and voided, and the purported elected officials produced by the purported election having been sacked by the Federal High Court in FHC/CS/OS/103/2022; Action Peoples Party (APP) Vs. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), & others, delivered on November 30, 2022 and confirmed by the decision of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/AK/226M/2024; Allied People Movement (APM) & Others Vs. Action Peoples Party (APP) & others delivered on January 13, 2025, vacancy actually exists in the political administration of local councils in the State.
Consequently, the Court upheld the prayers of the PDP in the suit which sought an order of the court “directing, mandating and compelling the defendants to fill the vacancies across the 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State through a democratic process by proceeding to conduct the local government elections already scheduled by the defendants for Saturday, February 22, 2025.
Accordingly, the Court directed and compelled all security agencies, comprising the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Amotekun Corps, the Vigilante group etc in the state to provide adequate security, during and after the election.
