Ondo LG election postponed indefinitely

By Christiana Ekpa

The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, (ODIEC), has announced the indefinite postponement of the local government election in the state.
The Chairman of ODIEC, Dr Joseph Aremo, announced the development at a stakeholders’ meeting on Monday in Akure, the state capital.
It would be recalled that ODIEC had scheduled the election into the 18 local government areas and 33 local council development areas for July 13.
However, a state High Court in June declared that the 33 LCDAs created by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was unconstitutional.
The court held that the law passed by the House of Assembly creating the LCDAs was signed by the late governor in Ibadan, outside the state.
During the meeting on Monday, Aremo, however, said that non-compliance of political parties to the electoral process caused the postponement of the election.
“The political parties did not submit their nomination forms neither did they comply with the adjusted timetable from the last meeting.
“As a precursor to the conduct of the election, between June 26 and June 28, political parties were expected to submit the lists of their agents.
“In the last meeting with the leaders of political parties, the commission informed them that the July 13 date set for the election was sacrosanct.
“We also stated that we would not be changing the date,” he said.