The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has voiced its disappointment in Governor Seyi Makinde and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), asserting that they have let down the residents of the state. This assertion was conveyed through a statement released by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare.
It was reported that OYSIEC conducted local government elections across all 33 local government areas of the state today. While the state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, had earlier declared the election as peaceful, the APC, represented by Wasiu Olawale Sadare, alleged various irregularities including the absence of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortages of voting materials, as well as incidents of violence and threats to life in certain areas of the state.
The party emphasized that these occurrences reflect poorly on both the governor and OYSIEC, ultimately disappointing the citizens of Oyo State. Sadare, in the statement, described the ongoing local government council election as fraudulent and warned that allowing it to proceed could tarnish the reputation of the state.
“With what is happening at the moment in most polling units across the state, Gov. Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.
“OYSIEC failed to mobilise officials to attend to prospective voters in key polling units while also releasing inadequate voting materials to virtually all the polling units. In most polling units, officials of the commission did not arrive until 12 noon when most voters had left for their respective homes in frustration. This aptly validated the suspicion that the PDP had handed a script to the Commission to implement in their favor.
“In the 10 local government councils of Oke-Ogun, the official result sheets known as Form EC8A were withheld by OYSIEC’s Electoral Officers while political thugs were unleashed on some members of the opposition who asked questions in places like Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, Oluyole, among others. The chairman of our party in Ibarapa East, Mr. Segun Ojediran, was violently attacked by the PDP thugs in Eruwa and he is now receiving treatment in a private hospital.
“OYSIEC has failed to accommodate more than 80 per cent of the eligible voters in the state today and there is no way the meager 20 per cent of people who were lucky to cast their votes in a lawful manner can decide the fate of the vast majority. Obviously, the Commission allowed a few people to cast their votes at the polling units while the balance of the majority rights to vote was secretly handed down to the PDP. Any electoral victory given behind closed doors is illegitimate, tainted, and unacceptable. Therefore, we call for the total cancellation of the whole exercise as it was done today.”
