Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi says the overwhelming performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last six years has silenced opposition parties in the state.
The governor, who declared the parties dead, spoke last week at the inauguration of chairmen of the 14 Local Governments (LGs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) who could not be sworn in with their colleagues in April due to legal impediment.
“It is in our interest to conduct elections; I have no doubt that we have performed very well as an administration. Our overwhelming performance has silenced the opposition in this state.
Governor Ajimobi was also confident the expected landslide victory of the ruling APC in the local government elections scheduled for the first quarter of 2018 would finally bury the opposition.
“Anytime we go into an election, we shall clear all by God’s grace. All other political parties have gone moribund; they are literally dead. Let us conduct the LG elections to bury them,” he said.
Seven Baales in Oyo community had approached an Abuja Federal High Court over the boundary demarcation that gave rise to some of the new LCDAs created by the governor in August 2016.
A pronouncement by the court had temporarily scuttled the ambition of the 14 new inaugurated chairmen, while it also caused a delay in the plan by the government to conduct local government polls within the four-month tenure of the chairmen that came on board in April.
Recently, the court had, however, vacated the order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters’ register to the State Independent Electoral Commission, thus, clearing the hurdle before the election.
Ajimobi said the reprieve had given the state the needed impetus to commence activities towards the conduct of the polls into the 33 LGs and 35 LCDAs, which he said would be another milestone in the era of his administration.
“Let me, therefore, tell you that your tenure will be for four months only. We will conduct an election before the end of your tenure.
“You are also free to contest, and this is an opportunity for you to perform very well and enhance your chances of being picked,” he advised the chairmen.
The governor said the inauguration, which held on November 9, was the concluding part of an episode that started in April when 53 chairmen were inaugurated into the LGs and LCDAs.
He urged the new chairmen to use the opportunity to bring development closer to the grassroots and asked them to eschew the temptation of using the opportunity for self-aggrandisement.
Ajimobi said political representation was no longer for loafers and jobbers but now solely for the promotion of the course of humanity.
