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Controversies, Petitions Threaten Council Election Date

By Gbenga Akinfenwa
18 October 2015   |   8:05 am
FOR the second time in four years, the conduct of local government elections in Ekiti State may be heading for a deadlock, with ongoing disagreements over the announcement of a December 19, 2015 date. The setback appears to be in three folds; from the main opposition in the state-the All Progressives Congress (APC); the Inter-Party…

Ayo-FayoseFOR the second time in four years, the conduct of local government elections in Ekiti State may be heading for a deadlock, with ongoing disagreements over the announcement of a December 19, 2015 date.

The setback appears to be in three folds; from the main opposition in the state-the All Progressives Congress (APC); the Inter-Party Advisory Council, (IPAC) and a faction of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

It could be recalled that the last election was held under the administration of former governor Segun Oni in 2008, while efforts made by his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to conduct same on February 4, 2011 was stalled by a judgment of the Ado Ekiti High Court, which voided the composition of the then Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (EKSIEC).

Since September 21, 2015 when the new EKSIEC chairman, Justice Kayode Bamisile (rtd.), announced the election timetable, there have been objections, which are likely to abort the proposed poll.

Like what happened in 2011, the APC has dragged the electoral body to Court. The party is opposed to the choice of the EKSIEC chairman, alleging that he is a card-carrying member of a political party. “In that situation we cannot have a proper election, so the APC has instituted two separate motions in a court of law in Ado-Ekiti, to challenge the improper constitution of the SIEC, ” the state party chairman, Jide Awe said.

Awe, who spoke to The Guardian in an exclusive interview, said an impartial arbiter would determine the chairman’s denial of being a member of any political party.

“We cannot say because the issue has lingered for long in courts that we are not going to register our grievances. It is not our fault and we cannot say because of that we’ll keep quiet, we wont. I think the court would brace up not to delay justice. When you discover that things are not proper, the court is the only place you have to approach and that is what we have done.”

For IPAC, its grievance against the commission, according to its chairman, Dele Ekunola, is based on the fact that the commission did not carry them along in fixing the timetable for the election.

Though Bamisile said it was the prerogative of the commission to fix the timetable, as conferred on it by the Electoral Act 2011, and assuring parties of a level-playing field in the election, IPAC is still of the view that the commission has failed to follow due process.

Also, the Olatunde-led faction of the PDP is threatening to drag EKSIEC to court if it recognised candidates presented by chief Idowu Faleye-led faction. 
The faction, in a petition to EKSIEC chairman, cautioned that Faleye and other caretaker committee members were impostors and the commission should stop relating with them in matters concerning electoral issues. 



In the petition titled “2015 Local Government Election Timetable”, dated September 21, 2015, the faction cautioned the electoral body against recognising candidates of the PDP presented through Faleye, failure of which it would take legal action against the commission.

But in spite of the threats, the state Governor, Ayodele Fayose has assured that the council poll would hold as scheduled, in order to lessen the burden on the state government and bring governance closer to the people in the grassroots.


He insisted that nothing would stop the local government poll from holding according to the timetable released by EKSIEC.

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