The Labour Party (LP) in Osun State has announced its withdrawal from Saturday’s local government election, citing security concerns and inadequate preparations by the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC).
The party’s Chairman in Osun, Adebayo Bello, made the announcement on Friday in Osogbo, emphasizing that the electoral body had not provided adequate security for a peaceful and fair election.
Bello called for the postponement of the election by one or two months to allow OSSIEC to properly address security concerns and resolve the legal issues surrounding the poll.
Speaking on the matter, Oyebode Babalola, the party’s chairmanship candidate, reiterated that LP would not participate due to security risks.
“Although we are ready for the election, we will not participate due to security concerns,” Babalola stated. “We have observed signs that the election might be disrupted, and we are not willing to put the lives of our supporters in danger.”
He also criticized OSSIEC for poor election preparations, revealing that the party had requested accreditation tags for its agents, but they were not provided.
Similarly, Adewale Adebayo, Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), expressed disappointment with OSSIEC’s handling of the election process.
Adebayo disclosed that when he attempted to officially submit a withdrawal letter to the OSSIEC office on Thursday, no officials were present to receive it.
“We want to confirm that we are not participating in the illegal local government election scheduled for Saturday,” he said. “It is disappointing that all OSSIEC staff, including its chairman, have been absent from their headquarters since Wednesday.”
Meanwhile, OSSIEC’s office remained locked on Friday, with security personnel stationed at the entrance preventing journalists from collecting accreditation tags.
One of the security guards, speaking anonymously, revealed that no one had been allowed entry since Wednesday.
Efforts to reach OSSIEC Chairman Hashim Abioye were unsuccessful, as calls to his mobile phone did not connect.
