The Osun State Government has rejected the Nigeria Police Force’s security advisory, which called for the suspension of the local government election scheduled for Saturday (today).
On Friday, the police urged the state to postpone the election, citing credible intelligence that warned of potential violence, which could pose security threats.
However, in a late-night statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the state government dismissed the police advisory as partisan and inconsistent with democratic principles.
According to the statement, the government reviewed the advisory and concluded that the proposal from the Force Headquarters was biased and politically motivated.
“The pretence of the service to be serving the public good while actually promoting the illegality of the APC reinforces our rejection of a Greek gift,” the statement read.
It further accused the police of openly supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that the force aided the party in enforcing a reinstatement order that was never issued by any court of law.
“A law enforcement agency has suddenly become a partisan wing of a political party, the APC, thereby losing all toga of a fair law agency. The negative role of the police to ignite the current face-off made its advice a poison chocolate,” the statement added.
The government also cited a court judgment delivered on Friday, which affirmed vacancies in Osun councils by upholding the sacking of APC-backed council chieftains. The ruling directed security agencies to ensure peaceful elections and authorized the conduct of fresh polls on February 22.
The state government further criticized the police for allegedly prioritizing partisan interests over compliance with court orders.
“Instead of the police to obey court order, the service is regrettably pursuing its partisan line by actively working against rule of law as espoused by today’s court ruling,” the statement read.
Despite the police advisory, the government reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law and supporting the state electoral commission in conducting a free and fair election.
“We thank the police for their advice. We respectfully turned down the request while we urged Osun voters to peacefully exercise their voting rights on Saturday.”
