The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Oyo State has declared the April 27 local government election as free, fair, credible, and successful.

This declaration comes despite criticisms that the election was characterized by discrepancies, a poor turnout of voters, late arrival of election officials at polling units, failure of the election to hold at some polling units, mix-up and inadequate election materials at some polling units, and elements of violence and threats.

However, in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, IPAC, Mr Gbeminiyi Ayodele, on Tuesday, the council said the election in the state was a huge success and rivaled elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Ayodele declared the election a huge success, saying it did not witness any form of violence and was a validation of the people’s will for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to continue in governance.

He boasted that the election was the best in the history of the state in terms of preparations, efforts, engagement, and personnel deployed by the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC).

Ayodele said the OYSIEC, under the leadership of Mr Isiaka Olagunju, exemplified transparency and followed due process as it began the preparation for the election a year ago and carried along all parties in the election process.

According to Ayodele, the fact that opposition parties participated in the election showed their belief in the integrity and fairness of the Olagunju-led OYSIEC.

Ayodele said the fact that the election did not hold in a few units could not invalidate the election held in most of the 6,393 polling units across the state. Ayodele, who argued that no election was perfect in the world, said the April 27 election was a work in progress and was the best among elections conducted in the state.

Ayodele said: “I am proud to tell you that except for the election conducted by INEC in 1999, Aare Olagunju, the OYSIEC chairman conducted the 2021 and 2024 elections can be referred to as one of the best.

The election we had on April 27 was fair, credible, and not violent. “This election was prepared for like an election that INEC planned for.

The electoral law of the nation stipulated that the planning for the election should start a year before the election. Election preparation started on 28th April 2023. “In most of the states, hardly would you see a major opposition party participate in a local government election.

The reason why they don’t participate is that they believe that it will be as usual, it will be an election that would not be conducted. “But this election was conducted under a free and fair atmosphere.

The preparation started a year ago and that was why you see APC participating. “In the world, there is no perfect election. Every election will always have the positive and the negative. But I am glad to tell you that the plus in this election is more than the minus.

This is the first local government election in Oyo State that election materials were sighted by all political parties. The fact that there was no vote in some polling units does not invalidate the election as it was conducted in a majority of the polling units. So I insist that the election was free, fair, and successful.”