The leadership of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Osun State, on Monday, urged the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission to avoid distractions ahead of the local government elections scheduled for February 22.
The Commission is currently dealing with numerous court cases, which are threatening to disrupt the election schedule, just one month away.
The State Chairman of the party, Tosin Odeyemi, who made this known in a statement obtained in Osogbo, declared that he had observed a campaign of calumny aimed at disrupting the local government polls in the state.
He urged OSSIEC to remain focused and proceed with the election.
Odeyemi stated that a significant amount of the state’s resources had already been spent on preparing for the poll since January of the previous year, stressing that the Commission should not succumb to blackmail but should proceed with the election.
The statement partly read: “I was surprised to see so many things flying around on social media recently about next month’s council poll in the state. Why would anyone wait until this moment before raising objections to the poll or its organisers? We have been concerned about how the ruling party in the state has been spending our collective money.
“Any reasonable person in Osun would know that OSSIEC has committed a lot to this election. Our party, together with other political parties in the state, including the APC, held a meeting with OSSIEC some months ago, where we all passed a vote of confidence in the Hassim Abioye-led commission.
“Why make moves now that could jeopardise the process? We all clamoured for local government autonomy, so how are we going to experience it if some people are planning to stop the poll? OSSIEC should avoid distractions.”
He said that if the elections were held to elect executives for the local government areas, the hope for better governance at the local level would be rekindled for the residents.
“Things are not going well at the grassroots level, since state governors took over its administration. Now that we are hopeful of having democratically elected officials at the local level, some are planning to send us back to square one. No way,” Odeyemi added.