JUST IN: Adeleke wins as court orders LG elections to hold in Osun, details emerge

• The court has ordered the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) to conduct local government elections to fill vacancies across the 30 local government areas
• The court declared the previous election conducted on October 15, 2022, null and void, affirming that the officials elected during that process had been sacked
• Security agencies, including the police, army, DSS, NSCDC, and Amotekun Corps, have been directed to ensure peace and order during the election scheduled for February 22, 2025

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Osogbo, Osun state - An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa has ordered the Osun State Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) to conduct elections, to fill the vacant positions of local government chairmen and councilors across the 30 local governments in the state.

Justice A.A. Aderibigbe who presided over the case on Friday, February 21, further issued three orders as the court ordered that the claimants’ claim succeeds and that the following reliefs and orders are granted by this Court:

1. AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT is granted, recognizing the existing vacancies across all the 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State, the election conducted by the 1st defendant on 15th October, 2022, having being invalidated, nullified and voided, and the purported elected officials produced by the purported election having been sacked by the Federal High Court FHC/CS/OS/103/2022; in ACTION PEOPLE PARTY (APP) VS. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) & ors. delivered on the 30th November, 2022, and as confirmed by the decision of the Court of Appeal, in Appeal No. CA/AK/226M/2024, ALLIED PEOPLE MOVEMENT (APM) & ORS vs. ACTION PEOLES PARTY (APP) & ORS delivered on 13th January, 2025.

2. AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT is granted, directing, mandating and compelling the defendants to fill the vacancies across the 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State through a democratic process by proceeding to conduct the Local Government ELECTIONS already scheduled by the defendants for 22nd of February, 2025.

3. AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT is granted, directing, mandating and compelling all the Security agents comprising of the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Amotekun Corps, the Vigilante Groups etc. to provide adequate security and maintain peace and order before, during and after the local government election scheduled by the Defendants for 22nd February, 2025 in Osun state.

Reacting, the Attorney General of the state, Hon Wole Jimi Bada Esq at a press briefing held at the Government House in Osogbo, said the state government led by Governor Ademola Adeleke, has received the court judgement and has resolved to obey the rulings.

The Attorney General, added that the Adeleke administration is a law abiding one posited that the judgment is binding.

He announced that “the state government appealed to Osun voters to come out en masse tomorrow, Saturday, February 22, to exercise their voting rights.

“The judgement is explicit enough and I call on all stakeholders to participate in the elections. We must remain peaceful as we exercise our voting rights in compliance with the court rulings”, the Attorney General told the media.

Osun LGA: Adeleke accuses IGP Of being lawless

Previously, Legit.ng reported that Osun state Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has accused the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, of enabling illegality in the state’s local government crisis.

Adeleke made this claim on Tuesday, February 18, while meeting with a delegation of British diplomats led by Deputy High Commissioner Jonny Baxter.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mallam Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson to the Osun State Governor, and shared via X.

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Source: Legit.ng