The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has declared all the 33 candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winners in the local government areas elections conducted across the state on Saturday.
The declaration on Sunday came amid controversy of irregularities as echoed by the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which alleged irregularities in the voting process.
The APC in the state while the exercise was ongoing on Saturday had described the election as a sham which it noted was capable of causing the Pacesetter state untold disrepute if allowed to stand.
The opposition party then sought the rescheduling of the election for another day when OYSEIC “is ready to conduct a free, fair and credible poll.”
Oyo State APC Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, in a statement regretted that “another opportunity to deepen democracy and return power to the people at the grassroots has had to be missed due to the insensitivity and insincerity on the part of the ruling class in the state.
“With what is happening at the moment in most Polling Units across the state, Gov. Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.
“Even if OYSIEC comes out later to declare all the candidates of the APC, we would not rate this election as credible and acceptable as it falls below the minimum global standard of election conduct. The best thing is for the Commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for a proper conduct rather continue to connive with a few anti-democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land,” the statement read in part.
The Oyo state government however disagreed, insisting that the victory of all PDP candidates in the Saturday’s elections was predictable.
The state Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, after the announcement of the results, attributed the victories of the PDP candidates to outstanding performance of Governor Makinde in the last five years.
The Commissioner also attributed the election result to the quality of the candidates which the ruling party presented.
“This is a glowing tribute to the governor and his government as this is the last election under his watch till 2027 when he and the just elected LG chairmen and councillors will end their tenures.”
He lashed out at the opposition for starting to rehearse their complaints barely 30 minutes to the commencement of the elections as early as Saturday morning.
Oyelade charged them to behave like sportsmen and stop mixing fantasy with democracy.
The Commissioner hailed the commitments of the security team, the OYSIEC chairman and his team for daring to make a difference after the challenges of the past two local government elections.
