Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court on Tuesday began hearing a suit filed to stop the upcoming local government elections in Oyo State.

The plaintiff, Akinloye Olusegun Oyeniyi, a businessman and politician from Ogbomosho, dragged the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.

Oyeniyi is asking the court to halt the elections over what he called unlawful provisions in the OYSIEC timetable.

Through his counsel, Ayo Omoleaupen, Esq., the plaintiff wants the court to determine if OYSIEC’s powers are limited only to “verification of documents of nominated candidates” and not “verification/screening of candidates” as provided in Section 7(1), Paragraph 4(a) of Part II of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and Section 153(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

He specifically challenged Items 6 and 9 of OYSIEC’s Revised Time Table and Schedule of Activities for the 2026/2027 LG elections issued on March 4, 2026. He argued that the items violate the Constitution and the Electoral Act and infringe on his right to contest and vote for candidates of his choice.

The plaintiff is seeking:

1. A declaration that OYSIEC can only verify documents of nominated candidates, not screen them.

2. An order striking out Items 6 and 9 of the timetable.

3. An order restraining INEC from releasing the voters’ register to OYSIEC until the contentious items are cancelled.

In his affidavit, Oyeniyi said his interest would be “gravely affected” if the election proceeds, and that granting the reliefs would uphold the rule of law and strengthen democracy.

After hearing the matter, Justice Egwuatu ordered the plaintiff to serve the originating summons on both defendants and fixed September 10, 2026 for report of service.

Source: Channels news