Court okays today’s LG polls in Kwara

An Ilorin High Court in Kwara State has dismissed an order seeking to restrain the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) from conducting today’s council election in the state. The All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the court for “an order of injunction of the court restraining KWSIEC from conducting any election today into the various Kwara State local government councils when a matter challenging the validity, legality and the constitutionality of the proposed election is sub judice and pending before the court for determination. In a ruling which lasted about an hour, Justice Suleiman Kawu said: “The applicants have failed to satisfy me in stopping the conduct of the election. For this reason, the case is hereby dismissed.” Justice Kawu added that “it is almost impossible to grant the order of injunction without necessarily delving into the substantive case. I have no doubt in my mind that the applicants are guilty of delay as the case suffered several adjournments at their instance.” He observed that notice for the proposed election was given to the applicants in May this year, adding that the applicants did not file their case until August. Meanwhile, the KWSIEC held a special prayer session for the successful conduct of the elections. Chairman of the commission, Dr. Uthman Ajidagba, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the commission believed in the efficacy of prayer for the successful conduct of a credible election. Ajidagba said the commission organised similar session before the conduct of August 31 Offa Local Council election which led to its success. In a related development, Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it had concluded all arrangements to take part in the council poll. Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, the PDP chairman, Alhaji Isola Balogun-Fulani, said the party would participate in the election in the 181 wards and 15 council areas. Meanwhile, KWSIEC has also announced restriction of human and vehicular movement in all the 15 local government areas where the election would hold.