APC to participate in Osun LG poll

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has announced that it will participate in the upcoming local government election.

The APC State Secretary, Kamikudeen Alao, told journalists in Osogbo, the state capital, that the party would not boycott the exercise.

Following the Supreme Court verdict granting autonomy to local government administration, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) has initiated the process of conducting the local government election.

However, the APC expressed concerns regarding the neutrality of the election, citing the chairman of the state electoral body, Hasim Abioye, as a known member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former special adviser to the state governor, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Jackson Adeleke.

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The APC claimed that as long as Abioye remains the chairman, the election will not be free and fair.

In a similar vein, a civil society activist, Comrade Waheed Saka, has advised OSIEC to ensure impartiality in the electoral process.

Saka, who is the Director of Programme at the Centre for Sustained Dialogue in the state, noted that trust had been eroded by the appointment of a card-carrying member of the PDP and Special Adviser to Governor Adeleke as the chairman of the electoral commission.