August 22 Local Govt Election In Ondo Fraudulent, PDP to Boycott |The Source

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Many stakeholders in the politics of Ondo state are raising questions about the insistence of the State Independent Electoral Commission, (ODSIEC) to conduct local government election now.

The Commission had fixed August 22, less than two weeks from now, for the conduct of the election, which has been postponed twice, since the inception of the present administration in 2016.

Coming less than two months to the October 10 governorship election in the state, according to them, it is ill timed and an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) to cause confusion.

They also described it as an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress, in the state to use the elected Chairmen and cmCouncilors to influence the forthcoming October 10 governorship election.

A time table released by the ODSIEC indicates that preparations for the local government will commence on Tuesday, August, 28,  with training of ad hoc staff to be followed by submission of names of party agents.

The Chairman of the Commission, Yomi Dinakin, disclosed that the last day for campaign is Thursday, 20th August, while the election will hold on Saturday, 22nd August.

But, the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), Mr Fatai Adams, said the party will boycott the election, describing it as a rigging plan by APC ahead of October 10 governorship election.

According to him, participating in such an election will be a futile exercise and waste of time when a bigger one is less than two months.

The Chairman pointed out that the PDP does not believe in the credibility of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, saddled with the responsibility of conducting such election, since members are employees of state government.

“The process  will just be an appointment not election where all the ruling APC candidates in the state will be declared winners for all the positions,” he added.