The CNPP argued that Mr. Ige’s position at a state-run university would interfere with his ability to impartially conduct free and fair elections and disqualifies him from leading the ODIEC.
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has maintained that the leadership of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) constituted by Governor Olusegun Mimiko cannot conduct a credible local government election penned for April 23, 2016.
In a statement issued by the Ondo State chapter of the CNPP, obtained by SaharaReporters in Akure, the pressure group stated further that ODIEC Chairman Gbenga Ige “lacks integrity” and is unlawfully qualified to conduct the forthcoming election.
In the statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Ayo Isijola, and Secretary, Odedeyo Muyiwa, the CNPP alleged that Mr. Ige was appointed in 2010 as the head of the ODIEC while still serving as a senior lecturer in the faculty of science at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA). Mr. Ige was then promoted to a professor in 2013 while still holding the same position as the Chairman of the ODIEC.
The CNPP argued that Mr. Ige’s position at a state-run university would interfere with his ability to impartially conduct free and fair elections and disqualifies him from leading the ODIEC.
“Dr. Ige was appointed ODIEC Chairman by the Ondo State government under Governor Olusegun Mimiko in 2010 while he was still serving as a senior lecturer in the faculty of science at AAUA. He was later promoted in 2013 as a professor while simultaneously serving as ODIEC Chairman, which is believed to be against the rules and regulations of public service,” the statement read.
“How could a non-serving person be promoted in accordance with the institutional regulations if he is not an active serving staff of the institution? Is it true that Dr. Ige has resigned his appointment, which qualified him as ODIEC Chairman?” the statement queried.
It also denounced Mr. Fatai Olotu, the Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating that he is forcefully parading himself in the same capacity as the Chairman of the Inter-Parties Advisory Council (IPAC), a body responsible for promoting inter-party dialogue among all registered political parties in the State.
“Fatai Adam, who called for the local government election to take place in the State as Chairman of IPAC, is a miscreant and a political jobber who calls himself the Deputy Chairman of the ruling PDP government in the State. And in that capacity, he could never have been qualified to head IPAC because it runs contrary to the provision that only a substantive State Chairman of a political party could occupy the position of the Chairman of IPAC,” the statement further said.
The group therefore described the forthcoming local council election penned for April 23 as invalid with a call on the government to cancel its scheduled date.
The CNPP reiterated that the money set aside for the conduct of the poll by embattled Governor Olusegun Mimiko should be used to offset the accumulated salaries and arrears of civil servants and pensioners in the State rather than embarking on election frivolities.