Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) may have laid to rest the uncertainty surrounding its participation in the forthcoming local government council election being planned by the administration People’s Democratic party (PDP) administration of Governor Seyi Makinde.
The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has announced the time table for the council election slated for April next year with political parties expected to begin electioneering activities including party primaries to produce their respective chairmanship and councilorship candidates.
The main opposition party in the state, APC, which had been silent on its disposition to the planned council election stunned many political pundits at the weekend when its leadership conveyed a stakeholder meeting where majority opinion was in support of the party fielding candidates for the council poll.
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The publicity secretary of Oyo APC, Olawale Sadare, told our correspondent in a telephone conversation today that it was true the opposition party would participate in the council poll. “The unanimous decision at the stakeholder meeting held today at our (Oke-Ado) state secretariat was that we would participate with a view to winning most of the available seats in the local government areas and local council development areas.
“I can assure you that by the time we are done with our final round of consultation on or before Monday, we would roll out schedule of activities since OYSIEC has written to us about the extension of the deadline for the conduct of primary which is now August 31, 2023.
“We are progressives in politics and we are always ready to play our part as democrats. Don’t forget that the main duty of political parties is to field candidates in major elections.
“We have had to face serious pressure from party faithful who want to contest and serve the masses at the grassroots as council chairmen and councilors.
“We have seen what the present administration has turned the third tier of government into in the last four years and it is now imperative for the APC to rescue the situation.
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“Even Gov. Makinde said it openly that he was not in support of autonomy for local government and this explains why he does not allow the council administrators to function as expected.” Sadare stated.
