Despite the court’s directive, the police actions have introduced significant challenges to the electoral process. OSSIEC has expressed concerns over the impact of these disruptions on the credibility and smooth conduct of the elections. The commission is working diligently to redeploy materials and personnel to affected areas to ensure that voting proceeds as mandated.
Osogbo, Nigeria — The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) has reported that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have sealed its headquarters and arrested several commission staff assigned to election duties across the state.
In an official statement released on Saturday via OSSIEC’s X (formerly Twitter) page, Chairman Hashim Abioye detailed the disruptions caused by the police actions. He noted that the sealing of OSSIEC’s head office impeded access to essential accreditation materials, hindering the commission’s ability to provide necessary resources to media personnel and election officials.
“Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested staff of the commission who are on election duty across the state,” Abioye stated. “For the units where materials didn’t arrive early, it was due to police arrest of the officials conveying the materials. However, new materials have been deployed, and voting is now ongoing.”
This development comes on the heels of a recent legal directive. On February 21, 2025, Justice A.A. Aderibigbe of the Osun State High Court in Ilesa ordered OSSIEC to proceed with the local government elections as scheduled on February 22, 2025. The court recognized existing vacancies across all 30 local government areas, following the nullification of the previous election held on October 15, 2022, by the Federal High Court. This judgment was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal on January 13, 2025.
Justice Aderibigbe’s ruling also mandated all security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, Department of State Security Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Amotekun Corps, and Vigilante Groups, to provide adequate security during and after the election.
Despite the court’s directive, the police actions have introduced significant challenges to the electoral process. OSSIEC has expressed concerns over the impact of these disruptions on the credibility and smooth conduct of the elections. The commission is working diligently to redeploy materials and personnel to affected areas to ensure that voting proceeds as mandated.
The state government has urged all stakeholders to remain peaceful and law-abiding, emphasizing its commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that the democratic process is respected.
This is a developing story, and further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
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