The Osun State Government has firmly rejected a security advisory from the Nigeria Police Force calling for the suspension of the local government election scheduled for Saturday, October 22.
The police had cited credible intelligence indicating a high likelihood of violence and significant security threats if the election were to proceed. However, the state government dismissed the advice, accusing the police of partisanship and violating democratic principles.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the police expressed concerns over potential violence and security breaches.
“Credible intelligence indicates a high likelihood of violence and significant security threats should the planned council election hold in the state,” the statement read.
Responding late Friday, the Osun State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, stated that the grounds for rejecting the police advice were based on the rule of law and an aversion to partisan interference by law enforcement. The government acknowledged the security advice but concluded that the proposal from the force headquarters was biased and undemocratic.
The state government’s statement read: “The pretence of the service to be serving the public good while actually promoting the illegality of the APC reinforces our rejection of a Greek gift. From the beginning of this face-off, the police has breached best practices by its open support for the All Progressives Congress, a party that is pushing for illegality through a non-existing court order. The whole world knows how the police actively aided the APC to enforce a reinstatement order that was never issued by any court of law.”
The statement further accused the police of abandoning its role as a neutral law enforcement agency. “A law enforcement agency has suddenly become a partisan wing of a political party, the APC, thereby losing all toga of a fair law agency. The negative role of the police to ignite the current face-off made its advice a poison chocolate.”
The Osun State Government also referenced a recent court judgment, which it said affirmed the legality of proceeding with the election. “Beyond the above, we also call the attention of the police to the court judgment of today. It contains three orders which affirm vacancies in Osun councils by authenticating the sacking of the APC council chieftains, directed the police and other security agencies to provide security for the election, and gave the go-ahead for fresh LG elections by Saturday, October 22.”
The government accused the police of disregarding court orders and pursuing partisan interests. “Instead of the police to obey court orders, the service is regrettably pursuing its partisan line by actively working against the rule of law as espoused by today’s court ruling. If the police chose to disobey court orders, the Osun State government will not go against the rule of law, hence the decision of the state government to support the state electoral commission to conduct a credible, free, and fair election tomorrow.”
The statement concluded by urging voters to participate peacefully in the election. “We thank the police for their advice. We respectfully turned down the request while we urged Osun voters to peacefully exercise their voting rights on Saturday.”
