The crises that engulfed local councils in Osun State, leading to the death of five people, among them a former local government chairman, and the paralysis of local government administration in the state after the February 25 elections all combine to create a sad commentary on the bastardization of democracy in Nigeria. The sequence of events that led to the stalemate at the local council demonstrates how politicians manipulate and abuse the democratic process. But more sadly, it renders bare the negative and tragic consequences of a judiciary that is subservient to political parties in power and powerful politicians, as against the principle of the rule of law.

Three years after the controversial October 16, 2022 YES/NO election into local councils in the final days of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, the judiciary’s contradictory judgments have led to an unstable leadership in the third tier of governance in Osun State. The former governor and now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, ignored misgivings raised by other political parties and went ahead to conduct the election in 2022. Only the All Progressives Congress (APC) featured on the ballot papers, so voters were required to accept or reject the chairmanship and councillorship candidates by ticking either YES or NO.

For an election to be transparent, the electoral umpire, whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) must carry other political parties along. There must be consultations, stakeholder meetings, and if there are valid complaints or doubts expressed by other political parties, they must be taken into account in fixing dates and conducting elections.

However, in conducting the 2022 local council elections, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) turned deaf ears to all the complaints raised by the opposition parties. The commission conducted an election in which only one political party, the APC, featured. That could not have been a genuinely democratic election; it was a mere charade.

The Federal High Court in Osogbo on November 25, 2022, rightly nullified the so-called election, following a case filed by the PDP. Apart from the PDP, another opposition party, the Action Peoples Party (APP), obtained another judgment on November 30, 2022, from the Federal High Court, Osogbo nullifying the YES/NO election. It was not until February 10, 2025, few days to the scheduled February 25, 2025 local government elections that the Court of Appeal in Akure delivered its judgment, upturning the decisions of the Federal High Court in Osogbo.

It was not clear why the appellate court would wait until few days to last month’s election to affirm the controversial YES/NO election. That was more than two years after the contested elections and lower court judgments. Worse still, the Court of Appeal’s failure to grant one of the major reliefs sought by the APC added to the confusion. The party had sought “an order restoring the appellants back into their offices having been duly elected by the citizens of Osun State.” The Court of Appeal judgment was silent on this, leaving the APC to guess that their return to office was implied in the earlier reliefs granted.

The violence that engulfed the state which led to the death of a former chairman of the Irewole Local Government Area, Aderemi Abbas, and four other persons of the PDP was caused by this ambiguity. The late Abbas was elected in the October 15, 2022 election, and had arrived at the secretariat to reclaim his mandate, based on the Court of Appeal ruling. Why would the Federal High Court in Oshogbo fault the election but the Court of Appeal uphold it? In interpreting the law, did the two courts consult different law books? Why would a court of law accept a controversial YES/NO election as a valid democratic process for electing local government chairmen and councilors?

The principle of Rule of Law requires that laws are applied consistently and fairly, in order to help maintain order and predictability in society. Doing so fosters trust in the legal system and reduces the likelihood of arbitrary actions by the government. Also, a good judicial judgment is meant to resolve disputes. It should provide a mechanism for resolving disputes between individuals, organisations, and the government.

In the case of the pronouncements in Osun State, instead of resolving the disputes, it worsened the dispute and led to loss of lives. There is a stalemate in Osun State local councils, as those elected recently and those elected in 2022 cannot take over the secretariats. Even local council civil servants have been advised to stay away from their secretariats until this dispute is resolved.

We, therefore, call on the federal government to ensure an unbiased resolution of the crisis. There must be a truly democratic election, where the votes of the people count, in Osun State. All political parties must be given the opportunity to canvass for votes and participate in the elections. The manipulation of the electoral process to ensure only candidates of the ruling party in the state are made chairmen and councilors is not acceptable in a true democracy.

Also, we call on the federal government to resist the temptation of using the federal might to impose candidates of the APC as council chairmen. If anything, the federal government should ensure free and fair elections are conducted into the councils. If the case is dragged to the court of law, the judiciary must make pronouncements without fear, favour or political bias. (Daily Trust Editorial)