By Banji Ayoola
Few hours after the winners who emerged from Saturday’s council election in Ondo State were sworn in, the Eyitayo Jegede Campaign Organisation, EJCO, said that the poll was illegal.
The organisation’s Head of Media Research, Mr Kayode Fasua, in an interview with The Radiance on Monday at his principal’s campaign office in Akure anchored the alleged illegality on the fact that a case against Governor Akeredolu’s dissolution of elected local governments is still pending at the Appeal Court.
According to him: “The election was inconsequential in the sense that it was illegal because there is a pending case in court on the illegality of the dissolution of the duly constituted officers of all the 18 local government areas in the state.
“They were duly elected but the Akeredolu government dissolved the local governments. The case has not been fully discharged. So it would be self defeating for the PDP to have participated in such an election.
“If we had participated in the election, it would only amount to not believing in what we set out to achieve. We still believe that the temple of justice would return the duly elected chairmen of the local governments.
“We would have talked about public apathy to the election. We would have talked about the fact that the APC arrogated all things to themselves in the course of the election and muzzled all other political parties.
“But we are not interested in the sense that it is largely inconsequential. We are waiting for the outcome of the pending suit on the illegally dissolved local government councils in Ondo State.”
Akeredolu, had in March 2017, shortly after assuming office, dissolved all the 18 local governments in the state through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr Segun Ajiboye.
The statement said: “Consequent upon the court order setting aside the local government election conducted by the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, under the Chairmanship of Prof Olugbenga Ige, on 23 April, 2016, the state Governor has directed that all persons occupying the positions of chairmen and councillors in all the 18 local government areas of Ondo State are to vacate such offices, forthwith.
“They are directed to hand over, immediately, all government properties in their possession to the Director of Local Government Administration in their respective local government.
“This directive is predicated on the order of Honourable Justice Adesola Sidiq of the State High Court, Akure, which found that the 1st and 2nd Defendants, Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission and Prof Olugbenga Ige, the Chairman, conducted the election of 23 April, 2016, “in violation of the mandatory provisions of Sections 1(1) (3), 40, 42, 287 of the Constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and Articles 2, 3(1) (2), 10(1), 11 and 13 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap. A9, the Laws of Federation, 2004,” and, consequently, dissolved all Local Government Administrative set up across all the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State.
“The State Government hereby enjoins all citizens to remain law-abiding as this directive is solely based on strict adherence to the order of the court and our unyielding insistence on observing the rule of law at all times and in all situations.
“Elections into all the Local Government Areas shall be conducted as directed by the court as soon as possible.”
