Less than 48 hours to Saturday’s local government election in Osun State, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has withdrawn its participation.
The party, in a letter addressed to the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), said its withdrawal was predicated on the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered in Akure on 10 February, which purportedly reinstated elected council chairpersons and councillors hitherto sacked by a Federal High Court in a judgement delivered in November 2022.
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There was violence on Monday between supporters of the APC and those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in the state, after the sacked council chiefs tried to take over the council secretariats. The police confirmed six people were killed in the violence.
The sacked council chiefs are all members of the APC while the acting administrators are members of the PDP.
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By Wednesday evening, the sacked chairpersons had taken over the 26 council secretariats in Osun State.
The state government had scheduled Saturday’s elections before the Appeal Court ruling, which interpretation is being disputed.
The APC’s withdrawal letter, dated 17 February, which was forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, was titled “Appeal no. CA/AK/270/2022 Between APC & 3 others Vs PDP and others.”
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The letter signed by APC secretary Alao Kamoru reads: “Recall that the judgment of the Federal High Court in suit no FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 was meritoriously nullified on February 10, 2025, by the Appeal Court in Akure in Appeal No CA/AK/270/2022 between APC and 3 others Vs PDP and others, and by the judgment, the elected officers have resumed duties as allowed by the Appeal Court judgment.
“The implication of the Appeal Court judgment as cited above is that the local government seats are no longer vacant.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby state that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates have by this letter, inform the commission that we withdraw from the local government elections scheduled for 22 February 2025, the same having become unnecessary, superfluous, and unlawful with the development.”
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