Osun LG Poll: APC, Others Breach Law Over Candidates Nomination – OSSIEC

…Says February 22 sacrosanct

The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) on Wednesday disclosed that some political parties feeding candidates for the coming Local Government election in the state ran foul of the provisions and procedure regarding substitution of candidates.

The affected political parties according to the OSSIEC Chairman, Barrister Ashim Abioye are; All Progressives Congress (APC), the Allied People’s Movement (APM), the Action Peoples Party (APP).

Speaking at a press conference held at the Correspondents’Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, on Wednesday, Abioye, stressed that the affected political parties had committed an incurable infraction by giving nomination forms to candidates whose names were not on the list.

He further revealed that virtually all the political parties contesting the elections had one case or another of the infractions, and that while some are remediable others are incurable.

He said, “the provision is not an innovation, it is as also contained in the Electoral Act, 2022, that is the provision we have now adopted. For this reason, some political parties, notably the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the Action Peoples Party (APP) ran foul of the provisions and procedure regarding substitution of candidates.

“While no substitution can be validly done without following the rules, any substitution or change of candidate done after the purported candidate intended to be a replacement for another must have been given and submitted nomination form despite his/her name not being on the list originally submitted to the Commission would be void.

“Let me note once again that virtually all the political parties contesting the elections had one case or another of the infractions which are remediable, but the political parties highlighted above committed the most of the infractions that are incurable by giving nomination form for candidates whose names were not on the list in some local government areas and wards. This we cannot help.

“Being a major political party, I will take that of the APC as an example. In Atakumosa West Local Government, the Chairmanship and Vice-chairmanship candidates submitted by the party to the Commission were not the persons who filled nomination forms submitted to OSSIEC.

“In the same vein, the respective vice-chairmanship candidates submitted by the APC for Ede South, Egbedore, Ife Central, Ifedayo, Isokan, Olorunda and Oriade Local Government Areas were completely different from the persons that filled and submitted nomination forms to the Commission. Candidates of the APC in several Wards across various local government areas were affected by this incurable anomaly.”

The OSSIEC Chairman however debunked the purported plans to postpone the election date till April, saying February 22, 2024 still sacrosanct.