This time around, I am writing as a legal professional, not as the Chairman of OSSIEC, and thus, I owe a duty to state the true position of the law as the situation is in Osun State today, with respect to the 30 local government areas of our dear State. I have read several statements by some persons, among them Lawyers, who have been directing some insinuations, accusations and condemnations against my humble self; laughably some of these accusers, among them lawyers, have even threatened contempt proceedings against me if OSSIEC under my leadership should go ahead with the conduct of the Osun State Local Government Election scheduled for 22nd February, 2025. What a joke! I laugh!
Let me declare that no amount of propaganda can seal my mouth from the truth, notwithstanding the mischief deliberately being orchestrated and the lies being peddled around as against true the state of affairs. Let me declare again that I fear nothing, notwithstanding the threats from some quarters against my personal safety in so far I am for the truth.
Firstly, we should ask who is mischievous between myself who has explained the true state of affairs regrading the court cases in the process of our local government elections, and those who failed to tell the truth that there were two separate suits before the Federal High Court, Osogbo Division, nullifying the election conducted by OSSIEC in 2022, and in effect sacking the purported elected council officials then? Who is to be cast between those who, for reasons best known to them, are hiding the facts that there were two suits, , and my humble self who explained to the whole world that the two separate suits at the Federal High Court regarding Osun 2022 local government election were filed separately by two different political parties, (PDP & APP). Who deserves to be condemned in the coùrt of public opinion between Hashim Aɓioye who told the public that tĥere hasn’t been any court order restraining the conduct of the forthcoming local government elections in Osun State, às against the position of the mischief makers who have been threatening brimstone and fire, just to impress and satisfy their fancies, falsely claiming around that the Court has stopped the forthcoming local government elections in Osun Statè.
Who is to be believed between me who revealed the truth and those who looked away and feigned ignorance of the Court of Appeal judgment dismissing the appeal filed by the APM & ÀPC with respect to the judgement of the Federal High Court in APP .v. INEC & ORS which judgment nullified the election and sacked the individuals purportedly elected in the election purportedly conducted by OSSIEC in 2022. When the decision of the Court of Appeal came, the mischief makers denied their political party being part of the suit at all. All manners of bad words were said to me by the mischief makers when I asked who were the parties to the suit, who were the persons sacked and who were the Appellants whose appeal was dismissed in the said appeal? I never saw those persons, especially the learned fellows among them issuing any statement or circulating any video content like they did yesterday, to deny that their political party was a party to the suit.
I dare the maker of the video content (who was insinuating mischief) to tell the public through any means, even if it requires him making another video, to tell the whole world about the judgement of both the Federal High Court of 30/11/2022 and that of the Court of Appeal of 13/01/2025, the content of the decisions, the parties to the suit and the said appeal. He should not forget to tell the public about the status and implications of the said decisions of the Federal High Court dated 30/11/2022 and Court of Appeal of 13/01/2025.
Our friends who were threatening to initiate contempt proceedings against Hashim Abioye should tell the whole world the order of the Court that has been violated by Hashim. They should summon the courage to tell us the effect of the decision of the Court of Appeal of 10/02/2025 which merely struck out the suit filed by the PDP for being premature, without any pronouncement on the validity or otherwise of the election, vis-a-vis another Court of Appeal decision of 13/01/2025 which dismissed the appeal of the Appellants (APM, APC and 1 other) with respect to the decision of the Federal High Court nullifying the election conducted by OSSIEC in 2022, and in effect sacking the individuals purportedly elected.
I await the contempt proceedings being threatened by our friends who have also been inciting their members to occupy all local government offices in Osun State without recourse to the peace of the people, moreso, when there is no favorable Court order for them to so do. If there is any, please I want to see it! I laugh! Chief Ogunsola who is leading the campaign of contempt proceedings against me should first tell us whether he was not caught in the judgment of the Federal High Court dated 30/11/2022 and that of the Court of Appeal dated 13/01/2025. I challenge him openly on this.
Let me say this, many of those persons, especially our learned friends, are only being over-excited as they know nothing about the facts of the case. They are ignorant of the facts. They have only fouled the stream of public communications as they fed the media space with mischief, misinformation and propaganda. These were cases I personally prosecuted at the Federal High Court, at a time I never knew I would be appointed a CABINET MEMBER in Osun State before my eventual appointment as the Chairman of the State SIEC, an appointment I never envisaged at all, and was reluctant to take when it came. I am sleeping and waking up with the facts of the two cases as they are evergreen in my memory till date.
I dare anyone who claims to know better to tell the whole world in good conscience, that I am the mischievous fellow for all the facts I have stated here without any fear of contradiction.
Who is feeding the public with lies? Who is mischievous?
