There was confusion on Saturday at the Osun State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osogbo after members of the electoral committee for the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) election failed to appear for the scheduled exercise.

The election, whichh was billed to determine new leaders of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state, was abruptly halted as the committee expected to conduct the poll did not show up at the venue.

When journalists visited the INEC secretariat around 10 a.m., delegates and reporters were initially barred from entering the premises. However, the intervention of some state party chairmen later compelled INEC officials to allow delegates access into the venue.

Sources among party leaders alleged that the IPAC national electoral committee had received directives to support one of the contestants in the election.

The committee reportedly includes the IPAC national chairman, Yusuf Dantalle of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), alongside other members drawn from different political parties.

A source among the Osun State party chairmen said the contest for the IPAC chairmanship was mainly between the chairman of the Accord Party in the state, Victor Akande, and the chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Tosin Odeyemi.

According to the source, the controversy surrounding the election stemmed from allegations that the state government was backing one of the contestants.

“The problem is that the state government is supporting one of the contestants, and that is why there is tension around the election,” the source said.

The situation triggered protests among representatives of various political parties who accused members of the national leadership of the council of bias in favour of a particular candidate.

Chairmen of the 19 registered political parties expected to participate in the election had arrived at the INEC office in Osogbo since 10 a.m. in anticipation of the exercise.

However, the electoral committee from the national secretariat of IPAC failed to appear to conduct the poll.

Some of the contestants for different offices in the council criticised what they described as deliberate delays in the conduct of the election and insisted that the exercise must hold.

One of the contestants for the position of Legal Adviser, Waheed Adediran, expressed frustration over the delay.

“We are just 19 in number and till this moment (2:34 p.m.) the electoral committee has not shown up. They told us they are arranging for the election between just 19 persons,” he said.

Another aspirant, Adeoye Olusola of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), criticised the committee for failing to appear despite arriving in the state earlier.

According to her, members of the committee reportedly arrived in Osun on Thursday evening but were yet to show up for the election as of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

When contacted by telephone, the National Organising Secretary of IPAC, Chinyere Kalu, assured that the election would eventually be conducted, although she did not specify a new date or time.

Similarly, the outgoing chairman of IPAC in Osun State, Victor Akande, told journalists that the election would still take place.

As of the time of filing this report, several chairmen of political parties who had gathered for the exercise had already left the INEC premises following the prolonged delay. (The Nation)

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