Justice Kayode Bamisile (rtd) who was recently appointed as the Chairman of Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission, (SIEC) is a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Irohinoodua has learnt.
The Mr Ayodele Fayose led-Ekiti State Government is currently bracing up for a local government election scheduled to hold before the end of the year.
Information made available to our correspondent indicated that Justice Bamisile registered as a PDP member with the card number 7354830.
Information reaching Irohinoodua indicated that Mr Bamisile has been very active in the PDP until his appointment by Mr Fayose.
Section 9A (1) of the SIEC law empowers the commission to conduct local government election in the state. Under the SIEC Law as reviewed in 2011, the Chairman of the commission shall be neutral and should not be appointed from any of the political parties.
Speaking to our correspondent on the law, Mr Babatunde Adeleke, a member of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Ekiti State and the party’s former spokesperson told Irohinoodua that he was not surprised that the Ekiti State Governor decided to appoint a retired judge who is also a member of the PDP as the SIEC chairman. He said: “This is ridiculous but one should not be surprised considering the fact that the state government has been notorious for disregarding due process.
But a lawyer, Mr Samuel Oluwatoyin Ojo who is a member of the PDP faction opposed to Mr Fayose told Irohinoodua that the governor’s decision was deliberate. “His strategy is to ensure that the APC goes to court so that the local government election is either delayed or did not hold at all.