SOJI AJIBOLA, Ibadan
Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, (OYSIEC) has suspended conduct of election in Ido Local Government Area over omission of the logo of the Zenith Labour Party on the ballot paper.
The Chairman of the commission, Isiaka Abiola Olagunju, SAN, announced the cancellation while speaking with some journalists on Saturday.
He added that any other information relating to the development would be made known to the public as soon as available.
According to him,“One information was brought to me a few minutes ago, which is quite unpalatable. It was unexpected despite all our efforts to achieve seamless exercise. This is in respect to the Ido Local Government.
“I was informed that the logo of ZLP was excluded inadvertently. It is really a serious error on our part and I take full responsibility for it. It was not intended to go this way. The party happens to be contesting in one local government, which is Ido. So, in that way, we have decided to suspend the election at the Ido LG alone for now.
“You know I promised the people of Oyo State of our transparency, credibility and fairness in the election process. It won’t be right when somebody is contesting a local government cannot find his logo on the ballot box and we go ahead with such an election. That will be very wrong.
“So, I want to announce to the public that only the Ido LG election for the positions of both chairmanship and councillorship is suspended. Whatever we decide on, I will let you know in a few hours’ time.
“You can see that other commissioners are not around but I can assure you that whatever we agree upon on the way forward will be made known to the public.”