The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Oyo State, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun has declared that the May 12th 2018 local government election in the state was nonbinding from the beginning as all the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates never obtained forms to contest.
The Commissioner also asserted that there were no documents in the custody of the State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) showing that any form was purchased by the candidates of the erstwhile ruling party in the State, while interested candidates from the opposition parties were blocked from buying till the election took place.
“It was clear from the beginning that the exercise was a charade, they just went ahead to waste the State’s resources, none of the APC candidates obtained form while the opposition was not allowed to obtain as well, this is part of why they have no moral and judicial stands to argue their case.
“We were all aware of the outcry from their own party chieftains like the former Minister of Communication, Barrister Bayo Shittu, the Accord Party and Socialist Party of Nigeria among others against the activities that came before the election and the election itself.
“People are not fools, they know what was going on and you know that throughout their illegal stay in office, the people in their different domains never gave them support, that is the sign that they were forced on the system and that would not be for long.”
Olatunbosun, while speaking on a private radio station in Ibadan, ascertained that the present administration has been putting in the right process to conduct the local government election without delaying like the last administration which conducted the election at the twilight of its tenure in office.
The Commissioner mentioned that although no date had been set for the election, the institution of members of the OYSIEC board was working to present a date and process that would have the input of all stakeholders in the political process in the State, especially the opposition parties.
Olatubosun assured the people of the state of the readiness of the Seyi Makinde-led administration to probe the past administration.
According to him, there were documents in possession of the State which the State anti-graft body would work on to unearth many alleged shoddy deals made by the last administration which had what he called colossal effect on the finances of the State.
“Whenever the anti-graft body commences work and documents that show monumental fraudulent practices by the last administration is presented to them for investigation, the people of this State will be confounded, some people have used the resources that belonged to the vast majority of Oyo State people to promote personal glory and interests”, the Commissioner declared.
Olatunbosun emphasized that the State’s free education policy was as a result of the promises made during the campaign period by Governor Makinde and the realization that Oyo State was among the eight States declared by Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that had the highest number of out-of-school children in the country, stating that free education and distribution of free textbooks, payment of grants and other inputs have reduced the number of children out of school in the State.
He said the administration would not back out of the programme despite opposition from some quarters calling for the reintroduction of the N1000 levy for students in public schools.
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