TUNDE ADELEKE, Osogbo
For over seven months, the 30 Local Government Areas and the Area Office in Osun State have remained under lock and key, crippled by a fierce battle for control between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). What began as a political tussle has become a constitutional deadlock, fueled by conflicting court judgments, disputed elections, and withheld federal allocations.
On October 16, 2022, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) conducted local government elections in which only the APC participated. Other political parties boycotted the polls, citing irregularities. Predictably, APC candidates won all chairmanship and councillorship seats, and OSIEC declared them winners.
However, the PDP quickly challenged the election, by an originating summons (suit no. FHC/OS/CS/94/2022), the party dragged then-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, OSIEC, APC, and others to the Federal High Court in Osogbo. The PDP argued that the election notice issued by OSIEC was 150 days instead of the 365 days required by the 2022 Electoral Act.
In November 2022, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola nullified the elections and sacked the APC executives, declaring the seats vacant. Around the same period, the Action People’s Party (APP) filed a separate suit at the same court against INEC and OSIEC. The APC and some other parties joined as defendants, but the court again ruled against them on November 30, 2022, sacking the APC officials.
The APC and its allies filed appeals, but OSIEC did not. One of the appeals lingered until January 13, 2025, when the Court of Appeal dismissed it for lack of prosecution. An attempt to relist the case was also struck out on June 13, 2025.
Meanwhile, Governor Ademola Adeleke, who succeeded Oyetola in November 2022, dissolved all APC-led councils and replaced them with caretaker committees loyal to the PDP. This move deepened the controversy and set the stage for years of legal and political battles.
On February 19, 2024, OSIEC issued a fresh notice for local government elections to be held on February 22, 2025—more than 360 days’ notice, in line with the law. The APC initially submitted candidates but later boycotted the process, insisting that its sacked executives still held valid mandates.
The conflict reached a boiling point on February 10, 2025, when the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure reinstated the sacked APC executives. The ruling emboldened APC chairmen to declare plans to resume at council offices on February 17, 2025. But the Osun State Government and OSIEC chair, Barrister Hashim Abioye, rejected the verdict.
The tension soon turned deadly. When APC chairmen attempted to take control of councils, violent clashes broke out with PDP loyalists. In Isokan Local Government, Hon. Remi Abass, one of the reinstated APC chairmen, was killed by political thugs. Several members of both parties sustained injuries in the fracas.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and NULGE directed LG staff to withdraw services from February 16, 2025, citing safety concerns.
NULGE chairman Dr. Nathaniel Kehinde Ogungbangbe, in a statement, said, “the Osun State NULGE has noticed the political uproar bringing agitations and fear among our members working within the Local Government Areas across the state. The Osun State NULGE is apolitical, but we won’t allow our members to work in an atmosphere of insecurity.”
As the February 22, 2025 elections approached, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, warned Adeleke against going ahead, stressing that the councils were not vacant and such action would be illegal.
Police sealed off the OSIEC headquarters, but the commission still announced that elections had been held. Reports, however, indicated that no OSIEC staff or materials were seen at most polling units.
However, it was observed that some of the polling units where the election experienced major turnout include the Governor’s polling unit, Sagba/Abogunde Ward 2, Unit 9, Ede, a member House of Representatives Bamidele Salam 1 unit 1, Awo, Egbedore LG, Osun, Deputy Governor cast his vote at Ilode ward 1 unit 001, The Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye Osogbo local government.
The chairman of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) dismissed the exercise as “mere lockdown,” saying: “There was no sign of any OSIEC electoral staff across polling units in the state.”
Despite the controversies that surrounded the election, OSIEC declared PDP candidates winners of all council seats. Governor Adeleke swore them in but instructed them to stay away from council secretariats until legal issues were resolved.
The crisis coincided with the July 11, 2024, Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local governments. Following this, the Federal Government directed LGs to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to receive allocations directly.
But in Osun, the lingering dispute led to the withholding of allocations. There were reports that the Federal Government planned to channel funds into accounts opened by the APC chairmen, who had been granted a waiver to employ treasurers as co-signatories.
The NULGE under the leadership of Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, rejected the arrangement, saying, “Only Directors of Finance, Heads of Local Government Administration, and civil servants with over 15 years in service can counter-sign with council chairmen for confirmation of any transaction, as stipulated by law,”
PDP-aligned ALGON chairman, Hon. Sarafadeen Awotunde, also warned the CBN against recognising the APC executives, describing them as “illegal occupants of Osun Councils.”
But APC’s ALGON chairman, Hon. Abiodun Idowu, countered: “We urge the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the allocation to accounts which will be accessed only by the reinstated executive. We admonish NULGE leadership and its members to resume duty so that they can work for the advancement of development at the grassroots.”
Amidst the stalemate, the Osun State Government, through its Attorney-General, Oluwole Jimi-Baba, SAN, dragged the Accountant General of the Federation and the AGF to court, warning against releasing allocations to the APC chairmen. The suit was later withdrawn, but in September 2025, the state filed a fresh case (SC/CU/773/2025) at the Supreme Court.
The state sought to restrain the federal government from paying allocations to APC-controlled councils, insisting they must go to PDP-elected officials.
APC, however, blasted the move. Its Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, said, “The latest approach of the apparently confused Governor Adeleke’s administration is an indication that it has reached a dead end on the futile efforts to grab the people’s allocations at the grassroots, which are meant for delivery of good governance… after all efforts to get ill-conceived propaganda from the backdoor proved abortive.”
While the political and legal wrangling continued, ordinary citizens bore the brunt.
Local governments, the closest tier of government to the people, provide critical services such as marriage certificates, certificates of origin, sanitation, healthcare centres, and road maintenance. But with council offices locked, these services have stalled.
Reacting to the direct impact of the locked Local Government councils in the state, a man who claimed anonymity, stated that he and his wife are yet to receive their marriage certificate despite being married since February 21, 2025.
He added that the delay occurred as a result of the locked Local Government councils in the state, adding that the officials of the registry requested more time till staff resume operations at councils.
In his words, “I did my wedding a day before the LG election (February 21, 2025) and till now my wife and my wife are yet to get our marriage certificate due to the fact that we are unable to access the LG secretariats.
“At first we thought it was something we would be able to get in no time but it’s taking forever, I pray the secretaries get opened soon.”
Also, a bride-to-be in Iwo said, “We fixed our date since June, but because the registry is closed, we couldn’t get our certificate, We are now considering going to a neighbouring state.”
Amidst the conflicting demands by political parties and stakeholders, the Traditional Rulers Council of Osun State led by Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the lingering crisis over control of local government councils and the withholding of their allocations.
He lamented that the situation has crippled activities across the 30 local government areas and the Area Office in the state, adding that “the traditional institutions and communities across Osun have been negatively impacted by the nonpayment of funds as and when due,” he said.
A CSO in Osun state, The Osun Masterminds (TOM), stated that people at the grassroots are suffering the neglect of work at the local council, appealing to the staff in the 30 local governments to resume their duties in the interest of the masses.
The group said: “The Osun State Government continues to act with the intention of political correctness, not minding the fact that the ongoing impasse impacts the finances of the state. While we recognise that the state government is paying salaries of LG workers, it becomes utterly irresponsible of the workers to continue to hide under insecurity while earning salaries for work not done. We condemn the continued inactivity in the local governments and we call on all stakeholders to act responsibly.”
The PDP accused the APC of deliberately frustrating governance at the grassroots. Osun PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, said: “The withholding of the fund is politically motivated and lacks logic. The people will punish APC in the 2026 governorship election.”
But APC fired back, accusing Adeleke of deliberately seizing LG funds and using NULGE to cripple councils.
Residents have, however, called on stakeholders in the state to proffer solutions that will see to the resumption of local government activities across the state.
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