Olusegun Ariyo
A chieftain of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and prevent those planning to cause trouble over the fresh ruling by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on the local government election conducted on October 22, 2022, in the state.
Oyintiloye, who made the plea while speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, stated that the ruling delivered by the court on Friday had begun to generate tension across the state.
The APC chieftain said that while the Court of Appeal, in its wisdom, struck out a request by the APC to relist its appeal against the 2022 Federal High Court judgment that nullified local government elections, the court did not nullify the judgement delivered on February 10, which reinstated the party’s chairmen and councillors.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that the misinterpretation given to the ruling by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the state government may result in crisis across the 30 local government areas in the state if not quickly checked.
He said that the interpretation given to the ruling by the state government that they now have control of the local government areas and the planned invasion of the secretariats on Monday will result in a crisis.
The APC chieftain said that the crisis is obvious because the elected APC chairmen and councillors would resist any unlawful invasion of the secretariats, which they are currently occupying.
Oyintiloye said that the only way the crisis could be averted is for Tinubu to intervene by ordering the deployment of more security agencies to the state.
He said that the loss of lives during a similar crisis on February 17 was still fresh in the minds of the residents, adding that such should not be allowed to happen again.
“We don’t want any bloodshed in the state again, and that is why I am calling on the President to intervene swiftly to avoid loss of lives.
“The open declaration by PDP members to invade the council secretariats in the state on Monday can lead to mayhem, and that is not what we need at the moment.
“Both the state government and the PDP must be cautioned against causing a crisis in the state due to the wrong interpretation of the court ruling.
“The verdict of the court on the attempt by the APC to relist the case is very clear, but some people are just hell-bent on causing chaos through misinterpretation of the court ruling.
“We appeal to Mr. President to intervene and protect the lives and property of residents in Osun.
“Osun government is already before the Supreme Court to challenge its inability to access local government allocation.
“It is therefore expected of the government to wait for the apex court to take final decision on it,” he said.
