The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, ODIEC, said on Monday that the local government poll slated for this year has been postponed indefinitely.
While reporting the development at the commission’s headquarters in Akure, the state capital, Dr. Joseph Aremo, Chairman of ODIEC, said that the decision to postpone the election was owing to political parties’ failure to comply with the electoral act.
The election, originally scheduled for February 2024, was postponed due to the death of former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The council chairmen’s tenures terminated in August 2023, and caretaker committees were created to oversee the councils’ business. However, their appointment was short-lived, as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa removed them following a court lawsuit challenging their inauguration, and directors of Local Government Administration were asked to take over the activities of their respective councils.
The ODIEC chairman, who indicated that no political party had submitted a candidate’s name, referred to the Inter Party Advisory Council’s (IPAC) actions in the state as sabotage.
Olaoluwa Adesanya, the state’s IPAC chairman, claimed that registered political parties purposely skipped the election process and that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa refused to meet with the IPAC leadership.
Adesanya argued that after receiving many letters, the governor declined to meet with IPAC.
He stressed that political parties would not participate in the election until they had met with the governor to determine the state government’s readiness to conduct the council election.
