Osun Government Rejects Police Advice, Insists on Holding LG Elections

The Osun State Government has rejected the security advice from the Nigeria Police, which recommended the suspension of the local government elections scheduled for Saturday (today).

According to the government, its decision was based on the rule of law and it is opposed to what it described as police partisanship. 

In a statement released on Friday and signed by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, the state government expressed concerns over the neutrality of the police. It argued that the advice from the Force Headquarters was biased and went against democratic principles. 

The government said, “The pretense of the service to be serving the public good while actually promoting the illegality of the APC reinforces our rejection of a Greek gift.

“From the beginning of this face off, the police has breached best practices by its open support for the All Progressive Congress, a party that is pushing for illegality through a non-existing court order. The whole world knows how the police actively aided the APC to enforce a reinstatement order that was never issued by any court of law.

“A law enforcement agency has suddenly become a partisan wing of a political party, the APC, thereby losing all toga of a fair law agency. The negative role of the police to ignite the current face off made its advice a poison chocolate.

“Beyond the above, we also call the attention of the police to the court judgment of today. It contains three orders which affirm vacancies in Osun councils by authenticating the sacking of the APC council chieftains directed the police and other security agencies to provide security for the election and gave go ahead to fresh LG elections by Saturday 22nd.”

The government also accused the police of pursuing partisan interests rather than obeying court order and working against the rule of law.

“Instead of the police to obey court order, the service is regrettably pursuing its partisan line by actively working against rule of law as espoused by today’s court ruling.

“If the police chose to disobey court orders, the Osun State government will not go against rule of law, hence the decision of the state government to support the state electoral commission to conduct a credible free and fair elections tomorrow.

“We thank the police for their advice. We respectfully turned down the request while we urged Osun voters to peacefully exercise their voting rights on Saturday,” it stated.

Recall that the Nigeria Police Force had earlier issued a statement through its spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, calling for the suspension of the elections. According to the police, credible intelligence reports indicated a high likelihood of violence and significant security threats if the elections were held. The statement warned that various groups, including political actors, were allegedly mobilizing to disrupt the democratic process. 

In addition to security concerns, the police also advised the Osun State Government to consider the legal implications of proceeding with the election.

It should be noted that the Osun State High Court in Ilesa ruled on Friday that the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) had the legal right to conduct the election as planned.