Court declares vacancy in Osun LGAs, orders OSSIEC to proceed with election

The Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, has ordered the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, (OSSIEC), to conduct elections into the vacant positions of local government chairmen and councillors in all the 30 local government areas and the area office in Osun State.

This order was made on Friday, 21st of February, 2025, sequel to a suit brought before the court by the Peoples Democratic Party, one of the political parties participating in the election.

The order came at a time the OSSIEC has concluded arrangements for the local government election, slated for Saturday 22nd February 2025.

The court found as a fact, that the election conducted by the 1st Defendant on 15th October, 2022, having been invalidated, nullified and voided, and the purported elected officials produced by the purported election having been sacked by the Federal High Court in FHC/CS/OS/103/2022; ACTION PEOPLES 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 the 13th January, 2025, vacancy actually exists in the political administration of local councils in the State, thereby, consequently upholding the prayers of the PDP in the suit.

Consequently, the Court granted the prayers of the claimant, seeking an order of the court “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.”

The court further directed and compelled all the security agencies, comprising of the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, the department of State Security Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Amotekun Corps, the Vigilante group etc in the state to provide adequate security, during and after the election.