Ex-NBA Chairman Asks Court To Jail Osun Speaker,OSIEC Boss, Others

A former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ilesa Branch Mr. Kanmu Ajibola has asked the court to commit to prison the Osun State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) boss, Mr. Oladunjoye Oladitan over their insistence to conduct the proposed ‪October 15th‬ council election in the state.

Others listed by him to be jailed by the court were the seven members of the commission, the State Attorney-General Barrister Femi Akande and the Clerk of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Simeon Amusan. 

The human right activist who filed a contempt charge at the State High Court, Ilesa Division today (Thursday, September 14th, 2022) against the respondents said the affected persons deliberately ignored the case filed before the court since August 1st, 2022 on the said proposed local government elections going by their actions over the matter so far.

Ajibola had approached court seeking among other things an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the lawmakers from amending the “State of Osun Local Government Area Law and State of Osun Local Government Areas amendment pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit, “the law having being the subject matter of dispute in this suit”.

Besides, he sought the court order restraining the the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, from conducting elections into the Local Government Councils in the state, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

But the former NBA Chairman explained that instead of the respondents including the state governor, Alhaji Isiaka Oyetola and 14 of the registered political parties to stop forthwith all procedures leading to the polls, the defendants, particularly OSIEC were intensifying their efforts towards conducting the elections.

He cited the party primaries conducted last Saturday by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the selection of the Chairmanship candidates for the election as part of the processes engaged in by the state electoral umpire. 

 Ajibola therefore applied to the Court for an order for the Committal to Correctional Centre of the respondents for “having disobeyed the the presumably granted Order of this court ascribable to the motion on notice dated the 1st day of August 2022”.