Osun LG Polls: APC, Two Others, Risk Disqualification, Says OSSIEC

The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) has revealed that three parties—the All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Action Peoples Party (APP)—have breached electoral guidelines related to candidate substitution.

Chairman of OSSIEC, Hashim Akintunde Abioye, made this announcement on Wednesday at a media briefing held at the Osun Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

According to Abioye, the Verification Committee identified discrepancies in candidate nominations in Atakumosa West Local Government, where the APC’s chairmanship and vice-chairmanship candidates did not match those who filled out the nomination forms.

He said, “As a major political party, I will use the APC as an example. In Atakumosa West Local Government, the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship candidates submitted by the party to the Commission were not the same individuals who filled out and submitted nomination forms to OSSIEC.

“Similarly, the vice-chairmanship candidates submitted by the APC for Ede South, Egbedore, Ife Central, Ifedayo, Isokan, Olorunda, and Oriade Local Government Areas differed completely from those who originally filled and submitted nomination forms. This anomaly affected APC candidates across several wards and local government areas.

“Substitutions or changes to candidates must comply with the rules. Any substitution made without proper documentation or involving individuals who did not submit nomination forms will be deemed invalid.

OSSIEC has given the affected parties 48 hours to address remediable issues, while incurable breaches could result in disqualification.

Abioye emphasized that the Electoral Act 2022 and the 2025 OSSIEC election manual for officials and political parties clearly outline candidate substitution procedures.

CityMirrorNews reports that OSSIEC had previously announced that the election will take place on February 22, 2025.