The Ossun State Independent Electoral Commission, or OSSIEC, has announced that the local government election in Osun State will take place on February 22, 2025. This election will only be held in the officially recognized local government areas.
The commission stressed that the election date is fixed, regardless of changes to the original notice. The chairman of OSSIEC, Barrister Hashim Abioye, said this to reporters on Friday.
He dismissed rumors that Osun State is rushing to hold these elections because of a Supreme Court ruling about local government autonomy. He clarified that the notice for these elections was already published by OSSIEC on February 19, 2024.
“This news is false and has no basis,” Abioye stated regarding the rumors.
Abioye explained that OSSIEC decided to amend the notice for the local government elections to adjust the timetable and activities schedule.
“After discussing whether to hold elections in the LCDAs and Administrative Offices, we decided to amend the notice. Now, elections will only happen in the constitutionally recognized local government areas of Osun State, and the date remains February 22, 2025,” Abioye said.
He emphasized that although the notice has been amended, the election date in February 2025 remains unchanged.
Abioye also mentioned that the commission considered requests from some groups, like the Osun State Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC). Therefore, they adjusted the timetable and schedule to give political parties more time to conduct their primaries and ensure more participation in the elections.
The OSSIEC chairman mentioned that he has informed the IPAC leadership about these changes in writing.
Earlier, on Monday, the state chapter of IPAC had announced that it would boycott the upcoming elections. Osun IPAC argued that OSSIEC Chairman Hashim Abioye was not involving their stakeholders and the 16 political parties in the council in the planning process.
However, on Tuesday, Osun IPAC, led by its chairman Victor Akande, retracted the boycott threat and stated that OSSIEC and its chairman were willing to engage with IPAC and its stakeholders.