By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) on Thursday asked the Oyo state Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) to declare the existing timetable for the conduct of elections into the 33 local governments and the 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAS) in the state null and void for a free, fair and credible polls.
SPN in a letter addressed to the OYSIEC Chairman made available to newsmen in Ibadan said the only way for the commission to conduct acceptable council poll come May 12 will be for it to “urgently convene a fresh meeting of all the existing political parties in the state to arrive at a progressive way out of this situation capable of undermining the competence of the commission on the local council released
” As much as SPN is in agreement that May 12 slated for the LG poll should be sacrosanct, we hereby urge OYSIEC to declare the existing election timetable null and void while also reiterate that OYSIEC should urgently convene a fresh meeting of all the existing political parties in the state to arrive at a progressive way out of this situation capable of undermining the competence of OYSEIC to conduct a credible, free and fair Local government election.” the party said.
SPN added in the letter that “ths is with a view to create an avenue for a discussion and debate over all of the issues around the election towards arriving at an electoral time table that will enjoy the input and consent of all political parties in the state” and that “OYSIEC must ensure that all issues around the delineation of wards are resolved before a fresh election timetable is released”
The party emphasized that “except the OYSIEC conducts the proposed local government elections in Oyo State in this kind of democratic manner, the planned elections across LGA and LCDA in the state may end up being a farce”
According to SPN in the letter, having gone through all the documents given the party including the election time table at a recent meeting with the OYSIEC leadership, “some grey areas that deserve an urgent and immediate attention of the commission” were found and that “otherwise the commission will be faced with the risk of conducting election that will be far from being credible, free and fair!”
The party maintained that “according to the election timetable, the deadline for the collection and submission of personal data form for candidates by political parties is slated for Saturday February 24, 2018 and Sunday, February 25, 2018 respectively” saying, “.to us in SPN, this aspect gives room for a doubt over the reliability of this timetable to guide us through the electioneering process due to its inconsistency with the prevailing objective realities on ground..
” As of Tuesday, February 27, 2018, virtually all political parties in the state with high chances to participate in the scheduled LGA election are yet to conduct their respective primary elections which was scheduled in the same timetable to be completed between Monday, 5th and Wednesday 23 February, 2018. Not even the ruling APC, which recently made a public announcement over its decision to postpone the date to conduct it primary elections indefinitely.
“This therefore, implies that as things stand today, none of the political parties in the state can be said to have complied with the aspect of the timetable that concern both the collection and submission of the personal data form for candidates by political parties. This therefore underscores the position of our party that unless representatives of political parties are brought together to work out an election timetable that will be acceptable to all, the chances for the scheduled elections to be free, fair and credible will be so slim!”
