Ogun Poll: OGSIEC begins screening of councillorship candidates

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OGSIEC begins screening of councillorship candidates.

OGSIEC begins screening of councillorship candidates.

The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) on Wednesday commenced screening for Councillorship Candidates in the Ogun Central Senatorial District for the forthcoming 2021 Local Government election in the State.

Speaking during the screening at the Commission’s Headquarters, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, OGSIEC Chairman, Mr Babatunde Osibodu maintained that the exercise was a major requirement as contained in the Ogun State Electoral Law 2007, in order to ensure that those the political parties are presenting for election at the grassroots are people of unquestionable characters.

“The electoral law 2007 provides that for Local Government elections, OGSIEC should screen all candidates and when they have been screened and accepted, then they can be given nomination forms, so the exercise is as provided for by Law and the essence basically is to look at all the credentials presented by them. For example, the law says a councillor must be at least 25 years old, if we discover that a candidate is below that, we will not screen that person.

“Also if a candidate is discovered to have been found guilty of committing drug offences or treason against Nigeria, or have been declared a lunatic, we are sorry, such will not be cleared based on the yardstick, such candidate will then be returned to his or her party for substitution. It is simply so for us to have people of calibre and integrity. In total, twelve parties are participating in the primaries”, Osibodu said.

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The Chairman charged them to act responsibly, eschew violence, ensure that they do what is required by law, assuring that incidences of vote-buying, violence, rigging among others, would be curtailed.

Speaking shortly after the screening, the trio of Adekunle Olufemi of the Action Alliance (AA), Ward 3, Odeda Local Government, Princess Morufat Azeez of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from Ward 2, Ofada, Obafemi Owode Local Government and Adepelu Rotimi of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Ward 4, Abeokuta South Local Government, expressed satisfaction with the screening, submitting that there was no incidence of bias or favouritism.

The screening continues today, Thursday, June 10, 2021, with councillorship candidates from Ogun East Senatorial District, while that of Ogun West Senatorial District is expected to hold on Friday, June 11, 2021.

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