Osun LG Polls: Don’t Truncate Democracy, Makinde Warns APC
The Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to truncate democracy by resorting to self-help on local government administration in Osun State.
The governor gave this warning on Sunday during the swearing-in of the 30 newly-elected local government chairmen in Osun State.
Makinde asked the APC not to exploit federal might to truncate democratic processes.
“Recently, we were in Lagos for the South-West Governors’ Forum meeting. We had PDP and APC governors from the South-West in attendance. We came together in the interest of our zone to tackle those problems that are common to us and our expectation is that we would have the support all the way to the top because the essence of governance is to deliver the goods to the people in our various states and zones.
“So, when events started unfolding here in Osun State to the extent that lives were lost, we felt that we should come around and sound a note of warning. We are all students of history and we know what the South-West Region went through that made people tag it ‘Wild Wild West’ back then and we do not want that again.
“We just want to peacefully deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. So, nobody should resort to self-help. Even if you have a court judgment, there is a process; let the process go through. You cannot say that because you have the so-called federal might, you want to truncate the process. This is a federal arrangement.”
He congratulated the newly-elected chairmen, charging them to deliver dividends of democracy to their people and justify the confidence reposed in them.
“Let me congratulate the newly-minted chairmen and chairpersons of all the 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State,” the Oyo governor said.
“Don’t forget the promises you made to the people during your campaign. This is an opportunity for you to deliver to the people at the grassroots level. My prayer is that with the support of your governor and the state government, you will deliver.
“For some of you, this will be your stepping stone to higher positions, because the reward for hard work is more work.”
Governor Makinde, who was in Osogbo with the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum chairman and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, said they were in attendance at the swearing-in event in solidarity with the Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke.
“The chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and I decided to come here to witness this momentous occasion and to show solidarity with the government and the people of Osun State,” Makinde told the gathering.
The leadup to the Osun local government polls was marred with conflict. While the PDP swept the election, winning all chairmanship seats, the APC has dismissed the exercise.
Police authorities and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Lateef Fagbemi had asked the Osun State government not to carry out the exercise for security and legal concerns.
But Governor Adeleke on Friday insisted there was no going back on the election.
