Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has disclosed that it will resist any form of intimidation the State Independent Electoral Commission intended to display against its candidate for the local government election slated for next year.

The Chairman, Osun Independent Electoral Commission, OSIEC, Mr Hashim Abioye during a press conference with newsmen in Osogbo on Wednesday said that the APC and two other parties’ candidates risked disqualification in seven local governments over the illegal substitution of candidates which is a non-remediable infraction.

He also gave both the APC and other parties participating in the next year’s poll 48 hours to remedy some infractions committed that can still be salvaged.

However, in a statement issued by the APC Chairman in Osun, Tajudeen Lawal on Thursday, he described the said alleged infraction as a move to deny the APC candidates level playing ground for the forthcoming local government election.

He added that the party’s effort to meet the deadline of the commission to correct infractions met a brick wall as there was no one at the commission’s office to attend to complaints as of 2 pm on Thursday.

According to the statement, to meet up with the directives of the Chairman, the APC had concluded all arrangements to ensure delivery of the necessary documents to the OSSIEC but to its surprise, the OSSIEC had closed at 2:15 pm today 19th September, 2024.

“All efforts made by the APC yielded no result as there was no one to contact for official duties placed on the OSSIEC over the issues.

“It is not lost on the public that a suit is pending in court challenging the competence of Barr. Hashim Abioye to head the Commission on the ground that he is not only a card-carrying member of the PDP but also that he hotly contested a ticket for Ifelodun State Constituency in 2023 and lost as alleged.

“It is surprisingly disturbing that a Commission which gave parties 48 hours to regularise its nomination could shut down office around 2 pm of the following day after the issuance of the ultimatum.

“The OSSIEC is either unprepared for the elections or mischievous in its directives to close the period for regularization or nomination of candidates by any political party almost five months before the planned elections.

On the issue of non-remediable infractions, the APC disclosed that some of the said infractions were the product of the commission, having failed to do a thorough fact fact check before rushing to the press.

“We shall employ all constitutionally acceptable means to ensure that the candidates of our party are not victimized by a pungently compromised electoral body that is not acting in tandem with its supposed independent attribute.

“Part of the reasons why we are smelling a rat about the independent nature of the Hashim-led OSSIEC is not limited to facts stated above”, it added.