The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation
& Minister for Justice,
Federal Ministry of Justice,
Shehu Shagari Way,
Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Dear Sir,
Why Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN is incorrect
We are counsel to the Local Government Chairmen and Councillors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress in Osun State on the 15th day of October, 2022 and who were recently reinstated by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, vide its judgment of 10th February, 2025 following the illegal dissolution of the said Councils and removal by the government of Governor Ademola Adeleke on 27th November, 2022. The said Chairmen and Councillors are hereinafter referred to as ‘our clients’.
The social media has brought it to our clients’ notice that a letter dated June 23, 2025, authored by a renowned lawyer, Professor Mike Ozekhome, SAN, on behalf of the purportedly "elected" PDP Chairmen and Councillors in Osun State, was sent to your much-respected office. Contrary to ethics at the bar, the said letter was not copied to us or our clients.
This letter, as reported in the press, rife with inaccuracies, half-truths and distortions, seeks to mislead the executive authorities in the country and derail the prevailing judicial order as established by the Court of Appeal in its judgment of February 10, 2025.
We had earlier published in the media, a piece entitled “Setting the Record Straight: A Rebuttal to the misleading open letter on Osun State’s Local Government Allocations” by which we tried to inform the authorities and the government against similar misinformation peddled by some House of Representatives members representing Osun State on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Yoruba people say, “Bi ina o ba tan l’aso eje kii tan l’eekanna” which, literally rendered, means the persistent presence of lice on the head, will consistently stain the fingernails with blood. We may roughly render it that “So far as the storm keeps raging, efforts to calm it would not relent”. In the light of Prof. Mike Ozekhome’s letter to your office and copied to a number of federal government agencies, the storm has continued raging and I, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, sworn to the oath of upholding the rule of law and integrity of justice administration, reckon myself to be under the moral and ethical obligation to calm the raging storm, by setting the record straight once again, at least as counsel representing my clients.
This rejoinder therefore seeks to expose the deceptive substratum of that letter, restore fidelity to the judicial pronouncements, and reassert the primacy of constitutionalism and the rule of law.
The February 10, 2025 Judgment: The prevailing judicial authority
Contrary to the narrative spun by Prof. Ozekhome, the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Appeal No. CA/AK/270/2022 delivered on February 10, 2025, stands as the valid and subsisting judicial pronouncement affirming the lawfully elected APC Chairmen and Councillors of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State.
The court, after considering detailed arguments, ruled in favour of the APC and nullified the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on November 25, 2022. The basis of that decision was clear: the PDP’s suit was speculative, having been filed before the notice of the election was even issued by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC). The ruling did not merely strike down the lower court’s decision on technical grounds; it addressed the matter on its merit and unequivocally allowed APC’s appeal. This is the true and authentic position of the law.
*The June 13, 2025 Judgment: A Red Herring*
The June 13, 2025 ruling cited by Prof. Ozekhome is being mischievously twisted to suggest that the Court of Appeal validated the PDP’s so-called election of February 22, 2025. This is false.
The June 13 ruling pertained to a motion to relist a sister appeal in the APM matter, which the Court rightly refused, stating that doing so would amount to reviewing or sitting in appeal over its own February 10, 2025 decision. The leading ruling explicitly warned against the confusion that such a resurrection would create. Nowhere did the leading ruling affirm the PDP's chairmen and lawmakers purported election.
It is only in the concurring ruling of Justice Omoleye that an unfortunate and clearly mistaken reference was made to the PDP's February 2025 election suo motu. None of the parties including the PDP canvassed the purported 2025 election which was yet to be held before all the processes were filed in the motion. It is indisputable, Sir, that every serious law student knows that obiter dicta, no matter how eloquently and sentimentally expressed, do not possess the force of law. Only the lead judgment constitutes binding precedent.
Thus, to base a call for executive action on the obiter of a concurring judge, while willfully ignoring the binding judgment of February 10, 2025 and the lead ruling of the same 13th June, 2025, is a desperate distortion unworthy of serious legal consideration.
*A lawyer’s contradictions and legal whiplash*
Even more baffling is that the same Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, who now pleads for recognition of the PDP’s so-called electoral success, had earlier this year, following the Court of Appeal’s February 10 judgment, called for fresh elections as the only path to peace. This is a matter of public record. It is therefore ironic, if not downright duplicitous, that he now construed a supposed “favourable” mere ruling of the Court of Appeal of June 13, 2025 as constituting enough solid grounds to give statutory allocations to invalidly elected people and deny same to those legitimately entitled to it through a valid court judgment of February 10, 2025. Such legal somersaults speak more to partisanship than principle and must be rejected by all who value the sanctity of justice.
*A timeline that clarifies the truth*
Sir, let us revisit the sequence of events, because therein lies the incontrovertible truth:
a. October 15, 2022: Local Government elections held in Osun State under an independent OSSIEC, producing APC Chairmen and Councillors.
b. November 25, 2022: The Federal High Court, Osogbo, nullified the election in Suit No. FHC/OS/CS/94/2022.
c. November 27, 2022: Governor Ademola Adeleke dissolved the councils, without affording the affected officials the right to appeal.
d. November 30, 2022: Another Federal High Court judgment in Suit No. FHC/OS/CS/103/2022 nullified the same election that had earlier been nullified again.
e. January 13, 2025: Appeal in the APM matter is dismissed for lack of diligent prosecution.
f. February 10, 2025: The Court of Appeal, in CA/AK/270/2022, ruled in favour of APC, set aside the November 25, 2025 judgment.
g. June 13, 2025: Motion to relist APM appeal was dismissed to avoid judicial confusion.
These facts confirm one inescapable conclusion: the Court of Appeal judgment of February 10, 2025 remains the prevailing and authoritative position. The PDP's claim to legitimacy is built on a misinterpretation of procedural motions and unsubstantiated assertions. There is no appellate court decision overruling the decision of 10th February, 2025. PDP has refused to appeal this decision but are attempting to impose a Federal High Court decision and rulings of Court of Appeal over the clear and explicit judgment of 10th February, 2025. What an abomination!
*Obedience to the rule of law is non negotiable*
Sir, it is axiomatic that in any constitutional democracy, court orders and judgments must be obeyed by all, including state governors, political parties, and even Senior Advocates. The APC Chairmen and Councillors, though illegally removed in 2022, obeyed the law and pursued redress through the courts.
Now that justice has spoken, it is the PDP that seeks to defy the law by invoking sentimental and partisan interpretations. Democracy cannot flourish where final court decisions are cherry-picked or re-imagined to suit political ends.
Sir, your respected office, in a letter of March 26, 2025, correctly recognized the implications of the February 10 judgment and directed that allocations be released to the accounts lawfully controlled by the reinstated APC officials. That position was not only legally sound; it was morally upright. If the great and highly respected Professor Ozekhome, SAN, the Akpakpa Vighi Vighi of Edo land, believes in his opinion, let him test it at the Supreme Court against the 10th February, 2025 judgment. This is a challenge.
*Prof. Ozekhome’s eight prayers: A legal mirage*
The prayers contained in Prof. Ozekhome’s letter amount to an invitation to anarchy. They urge the AGF to disregard a valid judgment of the Court of Appeal, endorse an illegal election, and direct security forces to enforce an unconstitutional takeover of local government secretariats.
Such requests are not only devoid of legal foundation, they amount to urging the highest legal office in the land to perpetrate illegality. No genuine advocate of rule of law would make such a request in good conscience.
*The only way forward: Respect for February 10, 2025 judgment*
The February 10 judgment is not ambiguous. It was delivered after full hearing and consideration. All executive authorities, including the Accountant General of the Federation, the Governor of the Central Bank, the IGP, DSS, NSCDC and all security agencies, must comply with it. Any contrary interpretation, especially that offered by Prof. Ozekhome, is misleading, and must be dismissed.
*Final word: A call to duty and conscience*
We therefore call on your office and personality, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, a principled legal statesman with a deep appreciation for constitutional fidelity, to disregard Prof. Ozekhome’s letter and its pretentious legal acrobatics.
This is not just a matter of partisan dispute. It is a crucible in which the soul of our democracy is being tested. Will legal order prevail over political expediency? Will truth overcome manipulation? Will the law be supreme?
We trust that you will stand on the side of truth, justice, and the Constitution by upholding your earlier directive and ensuring that the 30 APC Chairmen and Councillors, reinstated by the valid judgment of the Court of Appeal, continue to lawfully administer their offices until the expiration of their tenures.
To do otherwise would not only embolden those who seek to distort judicial pronouncements but would amount to a grave betrayal of the principles of justice and constitutional order.
Let us not be swayed by noise. Let us not be seduced by legal sophistry. Let the truth stand. Let the law reign. Let constitutionalism triumph.
We count on you as a defender of the truth, the rule of law and constitutionalism.
Yours faithfully
Kunle Adegoke & Co
*Kunle Adegoke, SAN*
Cc:
1. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Office of the President,
Three Arms Zone, Abuja
2. The Accountant General of the Federation,
Office of the Accountant General
3. The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
4. Director General, Department of State Security,
5. The General Commandant Nigeria Security& Civil Defence Corps
6. Inspector General of Police Office of the Inspector General Louis Edet House, Abuja
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