Only one political party will participate in Saturday’s Osun council polls, says OSIEC

Chairman of Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), Segun Oladitan, yesterday, disclosed that only one political party signified interest to participate in the council election slated for Saturday.

The OSIEC boss did not mention the name of the political party, but assured that the commission would conduct free, fair and credible polls.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state had flagged off campaign ahead of the controversial council election while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had said it would not partake in the polls, arguing that it was illegal and a means of wasting public fund.

The PDP and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the state have taken OSIEC to court with different litigations challenging the planned conduct of the polls.

But notwithstanding the law suits, Oladitan said the elections would be held on Saturday, saying that there was no court judgment stopping it.

Oladitan, who featured on a radio programme monitored in Osogbo, said: “OSIEC is constitutionally empowered to conduct the election. There is no judgment stopping us from conducting the election. Why are they whipping up sentiment. There is no legal restriction whatsoever.

“Those political parties who have shown interest to participate collected forms but didn’t return. Those who returned the forms were screened. As at last three weeks, it’s only one party that has been screened for the election,” he said.He, however, vowed to declare winners on Sunday, a day after the election.