LG election will hold in all wards in Oyo - Ajimobi declares, gives reasons

- Oyo state governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has insisted that there will be local government election in the state

- The governor said this after a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday, May 2 stopped the election 

- Some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state instituted a case over the creation of wards

Despite a Federal High Court ruling stopping the forthcoming local government election in Oyo state, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, has on Friday, May 4, vowed that election will hold in all 33 local government areas, 35 local council development areas and over 600 wards in the state. 

Tribune reports that while addressing a congregation of members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state at party secretariat, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Ajimobi said he was leaning on constitutional provisions that the courts had no power over the election.

There is this speculation across the state that the council poll will not hold as a result of the court judgment. "The court has not stopped us from conducting the election, except in some newly created wards. “We are telling the court that it is in the constitution that no court has power over the election. We are telling you that in the wards mentioned and those that were not mentioned, we are going to conduct election there.

“We are in touch with the aggrieved members of the party that had gone to court. I want to assure you that the election will hold across the state, even in the disputed wards,” the governor was quoted to have said,. Going further, the governor was said to have appealed to party members to ensure the success of the ward congress. “In any local government that has executive, if the executive wants to continue, and you agree, let them continue. If you don’t agree, go to the field. It is not automatic to be a member of the executive,” he added.

The planned Oyo state local government election which was scheduled to be held on May 12 has been stopped by a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday, May 2.

The court stopped the poll after it delivered its ruling in a case instituted by some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state over the creation of wards.