By David Owei,Bayelsa

The Osun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a swipe at the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for desecrating the highly revered traditional institution with its unreasonable attempt to drag it into its desperate power grab mission, saying Yoruba culture and traditions are firmly against tricksters, which the APC clearly represents.

The PDP in a statement signed by its Chairman, Hon. Sunday Bisi, lambasted the Osun APC for trying to associate brazen theft that its effort to snatch power through the backdoor clearly portrayed, calling on it to immediately halt its reign of impunity by calling off its illegal occupation of the secretariat.

Hon. Bisi noted that the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Rivers councils contention has put to paid Osun APC shenanigans, pointing that the apex court ruling clearly affirmed that local councils election not conducted in line with Sections 28 and 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022, is in breach of the laws and should be voided.

“Truth, no matter the effort to push it away, will always prevail. This was what the Supreme Court judgement in the Rivers LG tussle provided yesterday, affirming what we have always pointed out about the nullified YES or NO election conducted by the past administration in Osun state,” Hon. Bisi noted.

“Although the Osun APC may want to dodge this reality, the clear import of the apex court judgement was that local councils election in the country must observe certain provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, particularly Sections 28 and 150 of the electoral. That means that for an election to be valid, notice of election must not be later than 360 days, an important condition that the YES or NO election failed to meet, as the notice before that election was less than 60 days.

“So, the question the whole world should now ask the APC is, why will Osun bè different from Rivers state because that is the ludicrous position that they keep pushing. As we speak, there exists a judgement in the suit filed by the APP which nullified the October 15, 2022 election and went on to sack every beneficiary of the flawed election. Yet, the APC is disregarding this judgement of a court of competent jurisdiction and validated by the Court of Appeal, but they are illegally occupying the secretariat, and killing several of our members in the process.

“Therefore, we find it utterly insulting that the Osun APC will want to bring our royal fathers into this act of lawlessness, which has no place whatsoever in Yoruba culture and traditions. Only criminals break into buildings as the Osun APC did in our various secretariats, forcing their way into offices and damaging public properties.”

Hon. Bisi defended labour leaders for the proactive steps in safeguarding workers and not falling victims of the Osun APC violence, warning that no amount of cheap blackmails will deny the labour leaders the credit for saving lives of members.

“Only those with disdain for Osun workers and careless about their safety will attack labour leaders for taking proactive steps that kept workers in the councils away from harm. Although, we are not surprised given the Osun APC history of mistreatment of workers, it is shocking that it made it clear that their desperate power grab mission is worth more than the lives of workers,” he said.

“We suspect that Osun APC is not happy that workers are not among the list of casualties in the reign of violence they unleashed on the people during the forceful takeover of councils and want them to resume so they can do as they wished to avenge their rejection in the polls in 2022 and 2023. It is even laughable that the Osun APC mistake the PDP-led government for its wasteful years in the state, misusing public funds to coerce labour and others to do its bidding, however wrong they sound.

“Present set of leaders in the Osun labour movement are people of untainted integrity and don’t need monetary inducement to do what is right. They are not illiterates to recognise the Osun APC path to illegality and lawfully reject to be part of it. No part of the Akure Appeal Court judgement ordered the reinstatement of the sacked YES or NO officials and it is the height of absurdity for the Osun APC to expect workers in Osun state to be involved in the illegal acts.

“The recently elected Chairmen are the lawful officials of the respective councils but obliged Mr. Governor’s admonition for them to stay away from the councils to avoid spilling bloods, which is exactly what the Osun APC want. At the appropriate time and through legal means, the PDP elected council bosses will assess the secretariat but in the meantime, are conducting their official duties with the appropriate officials of the councils.”