365news gathered that The elected Chairmen and Councillors’ certificates of return have been removed by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), which has stated that it will not appeal the court’s ruling.
The Osun State High Court, located in Osogbo, the state capital, reportedly declared the state’s local government election held on October 15 to be invalid on Friday, according to reports from Citymirro News.
The OSIEC Executive Secretary, Adedapo Adejumo, announced the removal of the councilor’s certificate in a statement on Monday.
The statement reads” NULLIFICATION OF LG POLLS: OSIEC WON’T APPEAL JUDGEMENT, WITHDRAWS CERTIFICATE OF RETURNS
Consequent upon the judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in the case FHC\OS\CS\94\2022 involving the Peoples Democratic Party VS the Independent National Electoral Commission and 6 others, delivered on Friday 25th November, 2022 which nullified the Local Government Elections conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) on the 15th October, 2022, the Commission hereby announces it’s decision not to appeal the judgement of the Federal High Court, Osogbo.
The decision of the Commission is coming against the backdrop of OSIEC’s failure to follow strictly the provisions of section 24 of OSIEC Law, 2022 and Section 28 of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandate the Commission to give a notice of 360 days before the conduct of the election.
In view of this, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) aligns perfectly with the decision of the Federal High Court, Osogbo as the elections stand nullified.
Consequently, the Certificate of Returns already issued to the purportedly elected Chairmen and Councillors are hereby withdrawn with immediate effect.
Adedapo Ayodeji Adejumo,
Executive Secretary (OSIEC)
