The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) announced on Monday that the local government election planned for this year has been put off indefinitely.
At the ODIEC headquarters in Akure, the state capital, the Chairman of ODIEC, Dr. Joseph Aremo, explained that the reason for postponing the election was that political parties did not follow the rules in the Electoral Act.
The election was originally planned for February 2024 but was delayed after the death of the former Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The terms of the council chairmen ended in August 2023. Caretaker committees were appointed to manage the councils, but Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa suspended these committees because of a court case. After that, local government directors were told to take over the councils.
The ODIEC chairman was unhappy because no political parties submitted candidates. He blamed the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state for trying to sabotage the election.
Olaoluwa Adesanya, the chairman of IPAC in the state, said that political parties chose not to take part in the election process because Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa refused to meet with IPAC leaders. He claimed the governor ignored several letters from IPAC asking for a meeting.
Adesanya stressed that political parties would only take part in the election after meeting with the governor to confirm if the state government is ready to hold the council election.