Osun Election: IPAC members reject caretaker committee in Osun, demand election

Political parties in Nigeria's Osun State are in a dispute over the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), with state chapter members rejecting a caretaker committee appointed by the national executive. The state council's previous attempt to hold elections for new executive members was indefinitely postponed when the national election committee failed to appear.

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It is unfortunate that our National Executive Committee could not conceal what we believe is its bias.

Last week, the IPAC National Executive Committee (NEC) appointed Odesola Oluseyi Titus, chairman of the Action Peoples Party (APP) in Osun State, as the caretaker chairman. This decision has been met with strong opposition from representatives of 15 out of the 22 political parties in the state.

Addressing journalists, Dr. Tosin Odeyemi, Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), criticized the NEC's move as unfortunate and a failure to uphold democratic principles. He alleged that the national leadership lacked transparency and did not consult stakeholders before making the appointment. Odeyemi questioned the moral standing of the national IPAC leadership to critique Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over election challenges when it cannot manage elections among its own 22 member parties.

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If it is too difficult for our National Executive Committee to conduct an election for just 22 members, do we have the moral right to blame INEC for any perceived shortcomings in elections in Nigeria?

"We wish to state unequivocally that what we want in Osun is a free, fair and inclusive IPAC election. We reject the composition of this caretaker committee and insist that it cannot stand," Odeyemi declared. The parties also called for the resignation of the NEC members, citing incompetence and insensitivity to the aspirations of the majority of council members. Among the parties present were the Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Labour Party (LP), among others.

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We wish to state unequivocally that what we want in Osun is a free, fair and inclusive IPAC election. We reject the composition of this caretaker committee and insist that it cannot stand.