The Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPMC) has lost confidence in the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) due to its questionable actions following the Court of Appeal’s ruling. According to Rev Fr Peter Akinkunmi, JDPMC’s Coordinator, OSSIEC seems to have lost focus after the ruling, which both the APC and PDP have interpreted differently.
Akinkunmi noted that OSSIEC became less engaging and accessible after the court ruling, making it difficult for JDPMC to obtain essential information about the election. This lack of transparency hindered JDPMC’s efforts to engage stakeholders and citizens ahead of the election.
Furthermore, the disagreement between OSSIEC and the police on conducting the polls created credibility issues for the exercise. As a result, JDPMC found it impossible to conduct a credible election observation exercise, leading to the withdrawal of its observers from polling units and the discontinuation of observing the February 22, 2025, Osun Local Government election.
APC’S REACTION
The APC which had announced that it would not participate in the election called it a charade.
A chieftain of the party, Jamiu Olawumi, said:“The state is sliding into stone age when we are in computer age.
He said: “The OSSIEC chairman is a card-carrying member of PDP and cannot do better than he did. What they did in Ife Central Local Government is not an election.
“Some people were thumb printing ballot papers for the electorate. Ditto for Egbedore where a School principal and a PDP member were carrying the ballot box from one polling unit to another to fill it with ballot papers.
“This is nothing but a charade, and we are resolute in our decision in line with the Appeal Court judgment that there is no vacancy in the 30 local government councils in the state.”