*Says it rivals INEC conducted polls
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Oyo State Chapter of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has declared the April 27 election held across the 33 local government areas in the state as free, fair, credible and successful.
In a statement by its Oyo State Chairman, Otunba Adegbenro Fagbemi, IPAC maintained that the election was a huge success and rivaled an election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The IPAC chairman stressed that the election did not witness any form of violence and was a validation of the people’s will for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to continue in governance, saying, the election was the best in the history of the state in terms of preparations, efforts, engagement and personnel deployed by the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC).
While commending the OYSIEC under the leadership of Aare Isiaka Olagunju (SAN) for its exemplified transparency and following due process as it began the preparation for the election a year ago and carried along all parties in the election process, the IPAC Chairman noted that the fact that opposition parties participated in the election showed their belief in the integrity and fairness of the Olagunju led OYSIEC.
According to Otunba Fagbemi, the fact that the election did not hold in a few units could not invalidate the election held in over 6,000 polling units across the state, saying, no election was perfect in the world, said the April 27 election was a work in progress and was the best among elections conducted in the state.
IPAC PRO Engr Gbeminiyi Ayodele on his part said: “I am proud to tell you that except the election conducted by INEC in 1999, Aare Olagunju, the OYSIEC chairman conducted 2024 elections can be referred to as one of the best.
“This election was prepared for like an election that INEC planned for. The electoral law of the nation stipulated that the planning for the election should start a year before the election. Election preparation started 28th April, 2023. In most of the states, hardly would you see a major opposition party participate in a local government election”, he said.
Engr Ayodele added, ‘ The reason why they don’t participate is that they believe that it will be as usual, it will be an election that would not be conducted. But this election was conducted under a free and fair atmosphere. The preparation started a year ago and that was why you see APC participating”.
” Every election will always have the positive and the negative. But I am glad to tell you that the plus in this election is more than the minus. This is the first local government election in Oyo State that election materials were sighted by all political parties, monitored and dispatched to LGA’S and wards by IPAC organized monitoring agents which are representative from all parties that participated. From the Report gathered no LGA or ward that the materials did not get to.
” It’s on record that there was late arrival of voting materials to some polling units across the state which was as a result of scarcity of fuel and vehicles to convey Oysiec staff and materials, Fuel Scarcity was a national problem which we have little or nothing to do.
Upon receiving the report the Oysiec Chairman order that elections should continue in those areas until the last people on the Que at the affected polling unit cast their vote”.
He stressed further” Upon the close of Vote on the election date, results were announced at each polling unit, units that election did not hold the vote was not collated, likewise polling unit that there where form of Violence”, adding, ” the collation went smoothly, announcements were made, the council humbly urge all parties who have one grievance to approach the tribunal within the stipulate time and stop doing media trials on a concluded process”.
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