Labour Party withdraws from Osun LG election over security concerns

The Labour Party (LP) in Osun has announced its withdrawal from Saturday’s local government election in the state.

The Chairman of LP in Osun, Adebayo Bello, made the announcement on Friday in Osogbo.

Bello said that the party was withdrawing from the election because the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) did not provide adequate security for the peaceful conduct of the poll.

However, he called for postponing the election for one or two months so that OSSIEC could adequately prepare for it.

Bello said that the postponement would also afford the electoral umpire to resolve the legal issues surrounding the conduct of the election.

Also speaking, Oyebode Babalola, the party’s chairmanship candidate, said that LP would not participate in the election due to security concerns.

Babalola, who noted that the party was not sure of the security arrangement for the election, called for the postponement.

“Although we are ready for the election, we are not going to participate due to security concerns.

“We have seen some traces that the election might be disrupted tomorrow, and we are not ready to put the lives of our people in jeopardy,” he said.

Babalola also berated OSSIEC for shoddy preparations for the conduct of the election.

According to him, before the party decided to withdraw from the election, the electoral commission was contacted for accreditation tags for its agents, but they were not provided.

Similarly, Adewale Adebayo, Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), expressed disappointment with OSSIEC's election preparations.

Adebayo, who noted that the party would not participate in the election, said that when he attempted to officially deliver the withdrawal letter to the OSSIEC office on Thursday, no commission official was present.

“We want to confirm that we are not participating in the illegal local government election slated for Saturday.

“We are very disappointed that all OSSIEC staff, including its chairman, have absconded from their headquarters since Wednesday,” he said.

Meanwhile, the OSSIEC office was under lock and key on Friday.

Security men stationed at the entrance of the commission’s office turned back journalists who went to collect accreditation tags.

One of the security men at the entrance, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said nobody had been allowed to enter the premises since Wednesday.

Efforts to speak with OSSIEC Chairman Hashim Abioye proved abortive, as calls put through to his mobile phone did not connect.