Labour Party pulls out of Osun LG poll, gives reasons

• The Osun LP leader called for the postponement of the polls by one or two months to enable OSSIEC to prepare adequately

The Labour Party (LP) in Osun has announced that it will not be participating in Saturday’s Local Government election in the state.

The announcement was made by party’s chairman, Adebayo Bello, in Osogbo, the state capital, on Friday.

According to NAN, Bello attributed LP’s withdrawal from the poll to lack of preparedness of the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) to conduct a peaceful poll.

The Osun LP leader called for the postponement of the polls by one or two months to enable OSSIEC to prepare adequately.

Similarly, Oyebode Babalola, a chairmanship candidate on the platform of LP, said there are some indications “that the election might be disrupted tomorrow,” adding that participating will “put the lives of our people in jeopardy”.

“Although we are ready for the election, but we are not going to participate due to security concerns,” Babalola added.

Adewale Adebayo, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) chairman, also said his party will not participate in the election.

Adebayo added that when he attempted to officially deliver the party’s withdrawal letter to the OSSIEC office on Thursday, no commission official was present.

“We want to confirm that we are not participating in the illegal local government election, slated for Saturday,” he said.

“We are very disappointed that all OSSIEC staff, including its chairman, have absconded from their headquarters since Wednesday.”

The Osun LG elections are scheduled for Saturday across 30 LGAs and 323 wards in the state.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has also withdrawn from the elections, citing that participating in the poll would contradict an appeal court’s ruling.

Also, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has called for the suspension of the LG election in the state over a high likelihood of violence and security threats.