The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has postponed the local government election in the state indefinitely.
News About Nigeria reports that the election, which was scheduled for July 13, 2024, was postponed due to non-compliance by political parties.
According to the chairman of ODIEC, Dr. Joseph Aremo, political parties failed to submit their nomination forms and comply with the electoral process.
Aremo stated that the commission would go back to the drawing board and make its position known at a later date.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) chairman, Adesanya Olaoluwa, admitted that all political parties agreed not to participate in the election until a proper meeting was held with the governor of the state.
Olaoluwa commended the ODIEC chairman for his commitment to ensuring a free, fair, and credible election.
The chairman, who announced the development while addressing stakeholders from various political parties in the state, said the decision was based on the fact that no single political party complied with the guidelines of the proposed election despite all guidelines for the election being issued on time.
He said, “Ours is to conduct the election that will usher in a democratic government at the local level.
“It’s unfortunate that no single party complied with the guidelines for the election. We are yet to receive the nomination of candidates, yet to verify and release it to the public for scrutiny”.
Aremo added that the commission would go back to the drawing board and make its position known at a later date.
In a swift reaction to the postponement of the election, the Ondo State Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council, Adesanya Olaoluwa, admitted that all political parties agreed to the terms knowing fully well that no election could take place without them.
He said the party would want to have a meeting with the governor on the matter.
“They now know our reasons. We want to see Mr. Govenor. It is not that we don’t have trust in ODIEC. We know that they can perform credible election, but we want to see Mr Governor,” he maintained
In its own reaction, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party said the ODIEC postponed the poll because the All Progressives Congress was no longer popular in the state.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Kennedy Peretei, said, ” We knew all along that ODIEC will not conduct the LG election because the APC is not on the ground.”
The development would be the second time that the ODIEC would be postponing the local government poll in the state.
The commission earlier fixed February for the election but shifted the date to July.
