A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, on Sunday urged President Bola Tinubu to checkmate those allegedly planning to cause trouble over the fresh ruling by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on the local government election conducted on October 22, in the state.

It is recalled that the court had, on Friday, dismissed the motion marked CC/AK/226M/2022 filed by the APC to relist an abandoned suit filed by the party for want of prosecution over the control of local councils in Osun State.

Oyintiloye, who hitherto represented Obokun State Constituency in the state House of Assembly, in a statement said that the ruling delivered by the court on Friday had started heightening tension across the state.

He contended that while the Court of Appeal struck out a request by the APC to relist its appeal against the 2022 Federal High Court judgment that nullified the local government election conducted by the regime of ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the court did not nullify the judgment delivered on February 10, which reinstated the party’s chairmen and councillors.

According to the statement, Oyintiloye expressed fear that the misinterpretation given to the ruling by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state government may result in crisis across the 30 local government areas in the state, if not quickly checked.
He alleged that the interpretation given to the ruling by the state government that they now have control of the local government areas and the planned invasion of the secretariats on Monday will result in crisis.

The APC chieftain said that the crisis is obvious because the elected APC chairmen and councillors would resist any unlawful invasion of the secretariats, which they are currently occupying.

Oyintiloye said that the only way the crisis could be averted is for Tinubu to intervene by ordering the deployment of more security agencies to the state.
He recalled that the loss of lives during a similar crisis on February 17 was still fresh in the minds of the residents, stressing that such an incident should not be allowed to reoccur.

“We don’t want any bloodshed in the state again, and that is why I am calling on the President to intervene swiftly to avoid loss of lives. Osun State government is already before the Supreme Court to challenge its inability to access local government allocation,” the statement added.