Barely 24 hours after the Oyo State House of Assembly extended the tenure of the Caretaker Chairmen in the State’s 33 Local Governments and LCDAs, the Oyo State Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Mr Olayemi Olugbenga has expressed his opinion as to why the Local Government elections in the State were not conducted.

CEOAfrica had on Thursday 6th July, 2017, reported that Oyo State Lawmakers unanimously approved the four months extension of the tenure of the Caretaker Transition Committee Chairmen in 33 Local Government and LCDAs, following a letter from the Executive Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

In an exclusive media chat on Community Today, a Television Programme aired on CEOAfrica Online TV; the State Labour Party Chairman on Friday 7th July, 2017, attributed the failure to conduct Local Government elections in the State to fear of losing by the State’s ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

According to Mr Olugbenga, the APC administration in the State, led by Governor Abiola Ajimobi refused to conduct the LG elections because the party is afraid that it would lose the elections massively. “We (LP) have made our position known that we want the local government elections because if we have a credible and fair election today, APC will not win a single local government in Oyo State.

“So, they are not ready for the election and they are now hiding under the issue of court’s order on the election but it still boils down to the fact that the APC-led government is afraid of conducting the local government elections because they know the outcome and the result already. They know they are not going to win,” Mr Olugbenga revealed.

The LP Chairman further noted that his party and the other opposition parties in the state had been clamouring to have the LG elections conducted, adding that they had expressed their disaffection at the current structure of local government instituted by the APC-led administration. He said “We have been agitating that what we have in the local government presently are illegalities and that the Caretaker Committee is not supported by the Nigerian Constitution.

“By the time the OYSEC came out with their readiness for the election – although we were sceptical about their readiness – they invited all the parties and we were there. At the stakeholders’ meeting, we made it clear to the OYSEC people that it seems they were not ready for the election because of the way they were handling things. We made a lot of noise that time alongside other parties but we cannot keep saying the same thing every day. We’ve already made our position known,” Mr Olugbenga reiterated.

Chairman, Oyo State Labour Party, Mr Olugbenga (Seated Left) flanked by Journalists present at the Interview