The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has postponed the local government election in the state indefinitely.

The Chairman of ODIEC, Dr Joseph Aremo, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, July 8, 2024.

The election into the 18 local government areas and 33 local council development areas in the state was earlier slated for Saturday, July 13.

However, a state High Court in June declared that the 33 LCDAs created by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was unconstitutional.

The court held that the law passed by the Ondo State House of Assembly creating the LCDAs was signed by Akeredolu in Ibadan, outside the state.

Aremo, however, said the non-compliance of political parties in line with electoral process caused the postponement of the conduct of the election.

He stated: “The political parties did not submit their nomination forms neither did they comply with the adjusted timetable from the last meeting.

“As a precursor to the conduct of the election, between June 26 and June 28, political parties were expected to submit the lists of their agents.

“In the last meeting with the leaders of political parties, the commission informed them that the July 13 date set for the election was sacrosanct.

“We also stated that we would not be changing the date.”

Aremo said if only two parties were prepared for the election, the poll would have been conducted.

“At the meeting, they all agreed to comply with the guidelines and timetable.

“However, as I speak, not a single party has complied. No valid nomination form was submitted,” he added.

The ODSIEC chairman noted that the commission was committed to conducting an acceptable election, saying: “Our concern is to conduct free and fair elections at the grassroots level that will lead to the emergence of local leadership.

“But we realised that there is non-compliance with the rules and regulations. This led us to the decision to postpone the election.”

Reacting to the postponement, the Ondo State Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Olaoluwa Adesanya, said the decision of the council members not to participate in the election was reached during a meeting of all political parties in the state.

Adesanya said: “We agreed among ourselves that no political party should submit nomination forms because we want to meet with the state governor to discuss with him and understand some happenings in the government.

“We knew that the commission will have nothing to work with without the submission of nomination forms.

“ODIEC is an independent body and in this aspect, it is a matter between the government and the political parties.”

The Star