The constitution of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, CCII (as approved with effect from December 2016) clearly spelt out guidelines for appointment and roles of the Electoral Committee.
Section 8:3:1-iii says the Electoral Committee shall design ballot papers and other electoral materials for any election.
Section 8:3:1-ii says the electoral committee chairman shall be the returning officer.
Considering the importance of their assignments to CCII, it is doubtful that the CCII electoral committee, as it is presently constituted, may not be able to deliver the goods without bowing to undue, external pressures.
We say this because the electoral body which owes its existence to the General Assembly has not been able to come clean in some areas.
One, the composition of the 7-member Electoral Committee leaves much to be desired. It is not fair to the CCII for any member/representative of the club contesting to be included in the Electoral Committee. One of the Electoral Committee members is a bonafide member of Oluyole Social Elite, the club that nominates Barrister Niyi Ajewole for the post of President-General. What such loyal Oluyole Social Elite member, Elite Oluokun would do to the integrity of our electoral process is better imagined than told.
Also, Dr. M.k Lawal was the CCII Financial Secretary when Barrister Ajewole was CCII Legal Adviser.
Two, we doubt the ability of the Laolu Adegoke led-Electoral Committee to deliver because the information concerning the operations of the Electoral Committee has been filtering out more often than not.
We wish to draw the attention of all CCII stakeholders to an unfortunate incident at Ibadan House on Tuesday 24th January, 2023. On that day, the Electoral Committee Chairman, Laolu Adegoke was insulted and assaulted at Ibadan House, Oke Aremo by some elements from Oluyole Social Elite when they came to pick up nomination form for Barrister Niyi Ajewole, an aspirant for the post of CCII President-General in the 2023 elections.
The standard procedure within the CCII is that Presidents and Secretaries of CCII affiliate clubs are in a better position to collect and sign nomination forms for their candidates. But on 24th January 2023, it was Pharmacist Diekola Onaolapo, Oluyole Social Elite Board of Trustees Chairman, along with 7 other non-executives of the club that came with camera to request for Barrister Niyi Ajewole’s nomination form.
The second offence committed against the Electoral Committee by Oluyole Social Elite was that the N50,000 cheque for nomination form which ought to have been paid into CCII account was brought by hand. All entreaties to the Oluyole Social Elite delegation to lodge the cheque to the CCII account office and obtain receipt for payment before receipts could be issued fell on deaf ears.
An argument ensued and all hell was let loose, which attracted so many people, including members of Oyo State Auditors Association who were having social function on the second floor of Ibadan House on the faithful day. At this stage, the Electoral Committee Chairman headed to the office of CCII Secretary General next door to explain what was going on.
It was there and then that the CCII Secretary General and current President of Oluyole Social Elite knew that it was the members of his club that were creating a nuisance.
The Oluyole Social Elite delegation was further infuriated by the confession of the current President of OSE that Ajewole’s candidacy was not yet known to the club that was supposed to be his sponsor.
In the argument that followed, the Oluyole Social Elite delegation roughhandled the Electoral Committee chairman and seized other aspirants’ nomination papers from his hands. One would have expected the Electoral Committee Chairman and his team to report the matter to CCII Executives, Board of Trustees, and General Assembly over the development. But the Electoral Committee hid this fact from us all.
When question arose as to the eligibility of Barrister Ajewole to contest and petitions were flying from left, right and centre, the Electoral Committee should not have waited for the Board of Trustees and CCII Legal Committee’s opinions before disqualifying the candidate under reference. His Club (Oluyole Social Elite) already knew that they were breaching the CCII constitution with reckless abandon by having more than one representative in the CCII executive.
The embarrassment faced by Laolu Adegoke- led Electoral Committee now is that the same Niyi Ajewole’s supporters had surreptitiously gone back to Oluyole Social Elite to recall, even if illegally as time would tell, the CCII Secretary General to pave way for Barrister Ajewole’s unbridled ambition to become CCII PG at all cost.
So how independent is CCII Electoral Committee?
What is the possibility that they would not run away and leave ballot boxes in the face of intimidation on election day?
