Oyo kicks as court stops May Council poll

The Oyo State Government on Wednesday kicked over a Federal High Court order restraining the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission from going ahead with the planned Local Government election into the newly created Local Council Development Authority pending the determination of the substantive suit before the court.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Olusegun Abimbola, said the government would take immediate step to vacate the order, which he claimed was yet to be served on the government.

Abimbola said: “The point is that the existing laws in the state forbid any interim order from any court in respect of any proceeding to affect the timing of scheduled election by that provision of Section 9 of the Oyo state Independent Electoral Commission law Cap 154 Laws of Oyo State 2000.”

Some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress from Ibarapa East Local Government had approached the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan over the creation of new wards and prayed for an interim order to suspend the conduct of council poll slated for May 12, 2018 in the state.

Justice Joyce Abdul-Malik of Federal High Court 2 in her brief ruling on the motion,  granted the prayers of the aggrieved parties, retraining OYSIEC from conducting election into the newly created wards pending the determination of the substantive suit.

The interim relief in favour of the aggrieved APC members was made in respect of the new wards delineation by the state government, restraining OYSIEC from conducting election into the new wards.