A group, The Osun Masterminds (TOM), has condemned the appointment of Barrister Hashim Abioye as the Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC.
Governor Ademola Adeleke appointed Abioye, his Special Adviser on Legal Matters, with the state House of Assembly’s approval.
TOM made this known during an address by its Executive Director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, on Friday in Osogbo, the state capital.
In a statement, Oyedokun-Alli said, “Aside laws, government is expected to act in ways that are not only fair to all parties concerned, but that also set positive precedence for successive administrations.
“Government should not be seen setting templates for anarchy and illegality, by flagrantly ignoring morality in its decisions.”
It also insisted that Abioye’s appointment is a disregard of morality, which would carry partiality into the conduct of the local government elections when it is held.
“In the appointment of Barr. Hashim Abioye as the Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), the Osun State Government has acted without regard for morality and seems to have no intentions of impartiality in the conduct of Local Government elections when the time comes.
“While Hashim Abioye is a seasoned lawyer and should ordinarily have the capacity to head that important Commission, his partisanship already leaves a dent in his capacity to conduct free, fair and credible Local Government elections.
“Until this appointment, he was Special Adviser (Legal) to the Governor of the State, an office he got appointed to by virtue of his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Pray tell, if it was another political party in power and it makes such obviously partisan appointment to an office that requires neutrality and fairness to all parties, would the PDP accept it?
“Would the PDP be willing to participate in an election to be conducted by an openly partisan member of another political party?
“When we all condemned the Local Government election conducted by the Oyetola government in 2022, it was because we believed then, as we do now, that the conduct of an election is a critical activity that we must approach with clear intent to be fair to all participating parties.”
The group also expressed worries that the state Assembly becoming a willing tool in agreeing to every decision taken by the Executive will spell doom for the state.
“More worrisome is the fact that the Osun State House of Assembly screened him and found no reason to raise objections. Again, the willingness of the House of Assembly to agree with every decision taken by the Executive will spell doom for our dear state,” he said.
“The Assembly should not be a House of yes-men who rush to do the bidding of an Executive making such critical mistakes.
“As an organization, we condemn in entirety, the appointment of Hashim Abioye as the Chairman of OSSIEC and warn that keeping him in office amounts to setting a bad template for the future.
“Such a bad precedence should not be something the Adeleke government wants to be remembered for.”
