By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo
Members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Osun State have rejected the caretaker committee appointed by the council’s National Executive Committee (NEC), insisting that an election be conducted to replace the state executive whose tenure expired in February.
The state council had earlier scheduled an election to choose new executive members, but the exercise was postponed indefinitely after the national election committee failed to appear at the venue.
However, the NEC last week appointed the Chairman of the Action Peoples Party (APP) in Osun State, Odesola Oluseyi Titus, as caretaker chairman, a decision rejected by representatives of 15 of the 22 political parties in the state.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Saturday on behalf of the aggrieved parties, the Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Dr. Tosin Odeyemi, flanked by chairmen of other political parties, described the appointment of a caretaker committee instead of conducting an election as unfortunate.
He criticised the IPAC national leadership, alleging that it failed to uphold democratic principles and did not consult stakeholders before making the appointment.
Odeyemi also questioned the council’s moral authority to criticise the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over election-related challenges if it could not successfully conduct an election involving only 22 member parties.
“It is unfortunate that our National Executive Committee could not conceal what we believe is its bias. The chairman of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Odesola Oluseyi Titus, was appointed to head the caretaker committee. We know where this composition is coming from.
“If it is too difficult for our National Executive Committee to conduct an election for just 22 members, do we have the moral right to blame INEC for any perceived shortcomings in elections in Nigeria?
“We wish to state unequivocally that what we want in Osun is a free, fair and inclusive IPAC election. We reject the composition of this caretaker committee and insist that it cannot stand.
“In the interest of a transparent IPAC in Nigeria, we call for the resignation of members of the National Executive Committee because, in our view, they have demonstrated incompetence and insensitivity to the aspirations of the majority of council members, contrary to the responsibilities they undertook when elected.”
The parties represented at the briefing included the Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), African Action Congress (AAC), Labour Party (LP), and several other political parties.
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