Osun APC Accuses Adeleke of Misinforming Public on Local Government Allocations

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of spreading misinformation regarding the administration of local government councils and the payment of federal allocations in the state.

In a statement issued on Monday, the APC reacted to a statewide broadcast by the governor in which he alleged that the Federal Government, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, were responsible for the alleged withholding of federal allocations to local government councils since February 2025.

The APC described the claims as false, insisting that federal allocations were not being withheld by the Federal Government or any of its agencies. According to the party, the governor’s broadcast, titled “The Illegal Occupation of Local Government Secretariat and the Defence of Democratic Order in Osun State,” was aimed at misleading the public.

The party maintained that the APC local government chairmen and councillors currently occupying council Secretariat were legally reinstated following a judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on February 10, 2025. It added that there has been no appeal against the judgment, making it binding.

The APC further faulted the governor for allegedly failing to acknowledge that the sacking of the APC council officials was carried out through executive action shortly after he assumed office, and that the reinstatement followed due judicial process.

Addressing the issue of tenure, the party clarified that the matter before the Federal High Court in Osogbo relates to the interpretation of the three-year tenure of the reinstated council executives, and not a request for tenure elongation as claimed by the governor. It also stated that the legality of conducting fresh local government elections during the subsistence of the reinstated officials’ tenure is among the issues before the court.

The opposition party alleged that the Adeleke administration and its allies have instituted multiple court cases, including suits against commercial banks, to prevent the release of federal allocations to the reinstated APC council chairmen and councillors, a situation it said has adversely affected governance at the grassroots.

Citing the Supreme Court judgment granting full financial autonomy to local government councils, the APC argued that Governor Adeleke lacks the legal standing to intervene in local government financial matters.

The party also accused the governor of repeatedly blaming former Governor Gboyega Oyetola for his administration’s challenges, while questioning the governor’s silence on the killing of Hon. Remi Abass, the reinstated APC chairman of Irewole Local Government Area.

The APC further expressed surprise that the governor, who has been critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the past, would now appeal to him to intervene in matters already decided by the Supreme Court.

In its appeal, the APC urged Governor Adeleke to withdraw all pending court cases allegedly aimed at frustrating the release of local government allocations, in the interest of grassroots development and effective governance.

The statement was signed by the Osun State APC Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi.