Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, has asked President Bola Tinubu to intervene and order the release of the state’s LG allocations.
BACKGROUND
In February 2025, the Osun government held elections in the 30 local councils of the state.
The exercise was marred by violence, disputes, and legal battles as the sacked LGA chairpersons elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) sought to reclaim their seats, citing a court judgement.
Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, advised Adeleke to direct the state electoral commission to halt the process.
Fagbemi said the ousted LGA chairpersons must be reinstated since the court of appeal had dismissed the judgement of the lower court that sacked them.
But Adeleke proceeded with the polls. The APC and Labour Party (LP) withdrew from the elections.
The APC would later ask the federal government to withhold the allocations, arguing that the LG election was unlawful.
In December, the supreme court dismissed the suit filed by the Osun attorney-general (AG), seeking to compel Fagbemi to release and pay all withheld monthly allocations and revenues directly into the accounts of the LG councils led by officials elected in February 2025.
The apex court held that the Osun AG lacks the legal authority to institute the case on behalf of the state’s 30 LGAs.
However, the supreme court rejected the AGF’s contempt allegations against the Osun AG, noting that, instead, it was the AGF who committed contempt by withholding the funds.
‘ADEGBOYEGA OYETOLA BACKING ILLEGAL LG CHAIRPERSONS’
Speaking during a state broadcast on Monday, Adeleke accused Adegboyega Oyetola, the immediate former governor of Osun and minister of marine and blue economy, of backing the Osun LG chairpersons, who were sacked by the court, to remain in office.
Adeleke said that even if the court had not removed the LG chairmen and councillors elected on the APC platform, their tenure expired in October 2025, having completed four years in office.
“Despite these incontrovertible legal facts, they have continued to occupy the local government secretariats by brute force, with police protection allegedly acting on the instructions of former governor Gboyega Oyetola,” Adeleke said.
‘WORKERS ARE SUFFERING’
Adeleke said the LG allocations are the primary source of remuneration for primary school teachers, nurses, and other health workers at the 332 health care centres in Osun, as well as for local government workers, traditional councils, and retirees.
“Imagine the level of suffering these people who depend on local government statutory allocations for the payment of their salaries would have gone through if my government had not stepped in to borrow from the state government to pay the salaries of these workers over the last almost 12 months, with the exception of traditional council salaries,” he said.
“To raise the funds from the state government, many sacrifices had to be made. Allowances due to senior civil servants and political appointees had to be put on hold, causing great discomfort to these men and women and slowing some of the state’s ongoing projects.”
Adeleke said it is not sustainable to borrow funds from the state to pay LG workers.
The governor appealed to Tinubu to intervene in the matter, adding that the president is “not involved in this illegality”.
“I therefore urge Mr president to protect the integrity of our democracy by rescuing Osun state local governments from the vice grip of those whose self-awarded tenure has lapsed,” Adeleke added
