The governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun has described the Saturday local government elections as very peaceful and orderly lauding the people for coming out in their large numbers to choose their representatives at the grassroots
Gov Abiodun has equally promised to respect the autonomy of the local government and allow them to have free hands in complementing the developmental efforts of his government at the grassroots.
The governor stated this while speaking with journalists shortly after casting his vote around 12:35 at Polling unit 002, Ward 3, Ita Osanyin Iperu Remo, in Ikenne local government.
Answering questions from the journalists Abiodun said "From what I have seen so far and from the reports that have had, the elections are going peacefully across the length and breadth of the State. OGSIEC is doing such a wonderful job.
"Everything is going on peacefully, people are going to their polling units, they are accrediting and they are voting. There is no disruption, there has been no violence, people are fully expressing their civic responsibilities and they are voting for the candidates of their choice.
"My administration will ensure that the local government chairmen are given the opportunity to administer their local government as enshrined in the constitution.
"I will not want to speak about what happened before I assumed office, but I believe that what currently obtained at the local government level is night and day compared to what happened before I assumed office and that is why you can see the evidences and the testimonials of what the local government caretaker committees have achieved in their 18 to 20 months in office because we have ensured that there are projects and funded in line with the constitution.
"We will respect the autonomy of the local government in line with what we at the Governors' Forum have decided to do and how we decided to implement it. I believe that they are a tier of government that should be given a free hand to run their show, they are the closest administrative political office to the grassroots, they are able to make that impact in the grassroots and they are much closer than any of us.
Speaking on the reported boycott of the election by PDP, Abiodun said "I am not aware of any party boycotting this election. I hear of a purported or supposed boycott and spoke to our team to find out exactly what was going on.
"What apparently happened is that one or two parties are factionalised and I believe that the legitimate faction of these other parties were duly recognised by OGSIEC and what I was made to understand was that the party that was not recognised headed to the court and the case was in court until I believe on Thursday and from what I understand, the court dismissed the suit that was challenging the OGSIEC accepting the other faction and following that, I think perhaps, to safe face the faction that lost out now decided to concoct a boycott.
"You cannot be boycotting a process that you are not even a participant in, so I didn't understand that, but really, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not speaking for OGSIEC, I'm not speaking on behalf of any party, I can only speak on behalf of my party and my administration.
"I believe OGSIEC has done everything within their power, within their mandate to be very transparent and to ensure that the playing field is as level as it should be for every single party that expressed desire to be part of this election.
Similarly, a chieftain of the APC in Odogbolu local government Hon. Adewale Solomon Damilola popularly known as Baby Boy has also commended OGSIEC for a job well done as well as the electorates for their peaceful conduct during the election.
Hon Damilola who also contested for chairmanship seat of the local government during the primaries gave this commendation in chat with journalists after casting his vote.
He explained that "I really do not have much to say than to appreciate the role played by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) as well as the residents of Odogbolu Local Governments for turning out in their large numbers to exercise their civic right today.
"I have that assurance that given the good jobs of APC led government of Prince Dapo Abiodun in the last two years coupled with our aggressive campaign across the nook and cranny of Ogun State on this local government elections, our party will record 100% victory. I therefore in advance congratulate all our party flagbearers, especially, our chairman here at Odogbolu Local Government. I pray that the Almighty God will make their tenure peaceful and prosperous''.
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