There is disquiet among opposition parties in Ogun State over the failure of the State Judiciary to set up Election Petition Tribunal, one week after the conclusion of the local government election in the State.
Daily Trust reports that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had swept all the 20 chairmanship and 236 councillors seats in the council polls held on July 24.
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The Chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), Babatunde Osibodu, announced the results last Sunday in Abeokuta.
Twelve political parties participated in the council poll which was marred by apathy.
However, one week after the election, some of the opposition parties have expressed grievances that the judiciary has not set up a tribunal to allow them seek redress over the outcome of the poll.
Our correspondent in Abeokuta learnt that the State High Court had embarked on an annual vacation and would resume at the end of August 2021.
Speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, the State Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Oginni Olaposi, described it as “bizarre and unexpected” that the judiciary failed to set up a tribunal after the election.
He accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of disobedience to the rule of law, saying the development “is an invitation to anarchy in the State.”
Olaposi worried that the governor inaugurated an electoral body to conduct election without giving a directive for setting up of an Election Petition Tribunal by the judiciary.
According to him, the law allows an aggrieved party to file petitions within 14 days after the announcement of election results, but one week had already passed without setting up of the tribunal.
“Ogun State is not a one-party state. The New Nigeria Peoples Party has come out as one of the major oppositions of this government and we are ready to fight it out with them.
“We are taking them to the cleaners. Whatever way, whatever tactic they think they know to subvert the wishes of the people will be resisted.
“But one thing I want to say loud and clear is that, anyone that makes peaceful change impossible makes violent change inevitable,” Olaposi said.
The Action Alliance equally asked the government to set up an election tribunal.
The party through its lead counsel, Olubayo Durojaiye, wrote the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, asking it to set up an election tribunal to allow it seek redress of the alleged irregularities.
The party complained that the elections witnessed “a lot of irregularities such as rigging, multiple voting, ballot stuffing among others.”
When contacted, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Akingbolahan Adeniran, declined to comment.
“I don’t do work stuff on Sunday. Please, call me tomorrow,” he told Daily Trust in a telephone chat.
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