Crisis looms as NULGE members in Osun kick against conduct of branch elections scheduled for Tuesday

The conduct of the Osun State Nigeria Union Of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for local government branch elections scheduled for Tuesday may be in jeopardy over a disagreement among some members of the union.

The grouse of those kicking against the conduct of the exercise was that there was a court injunction that refrained the union from conducting the election after dragging the current president of the union to the Ibadan National industrial Court over tenure elongation.

They wondered why the election should be hurriedly fixed for Tuesday when the verdict of the court that no election should be held is still in place.

The development had however fractionalized the members of the union who pitched tents against themselves.

As a faction frowned at the proposed election on the ground that, there is a valid injunction against the conduct of the election in Osun state and further affirmed that, the national officers recruited for the exercise are not competent to do so as the power to conduct branch elections vested in the state executive council (SEC) in line with the constitution of the union, other factions insisted that, the exercise should hold.

Those that kicked against the conduct of the exercise however described those behind the conduct of the election as the people who want to impose their representatives into power and dictate what to do for them.

In a letter addressed to the General Secretariat of the union in Abuja and signed by those opposing the conduct of the exercise, argued that ” We are of the firm belief that, the due process for the conduct of the upcoming local government branch electoral has been totally compromised. It is clear as crystal that the election is not and will not be free and fair.”

In the letter signed by the trio of Comrade (Dr.) Alimi Adegboyega Oyediran, Comrade Isafiade Adewuyi and Comrade Tirimisiyu Adedayo Adekunle who are intending contenders for the position of the state president withdrew their ambitions on the ground that, the step taken so far on the proposed conduct, lack genuineness and credibility in its entirety. 

They posited that “We are of the firm belief that, the outcome of the election judging from all surrounding events so far, such as the hurried manner in which the local government branches election is to be conducted, and the short time allowed for aspirants to obtain nomination forms and campaign for the elective positions point to the fact that the result of the election is already predetermined and candidates have already been programmed to emerge regardless of the choice of the electorate.”

According to them,” the due procedure laid down in the union amended constitution which states emphatically that, the state executive Council shall be vested with the power to establish local branch executives is being bypassed. 

“Thus, we state firmly without any fear of contradictions that, we do not trust the outcome of NULGE, Osun state branch election and subsequently the state delegate s conference scheduled to take place after, which is supposed to have some of the elected local branch offices as its delegates.”

The letter however added that “the National Industrial Court, Ibadan division on the 23rd of March, 2021 had granted an injunction against the union and restrained it from conducting any sort of election in Osun state chapter of the union and as such, the lawful thing is that, elections should be suspended until the court injunction is vacated”.

“In view of the foregoing reasons, we hereby withdraw from the conduct of the election and state that, we do not have confidence in the electioneering process which is also an illegality in the face of the law”, they concluded.

However, some members who embraced its conduct described the position of those kicking against it as baseless and unfounded.

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