Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has appealed to the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu to immediately release the state’s local government allocation.
In February, the Osun government held elections into the local councils across 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.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, asked Adeleke to direct the state electoral commission to halt the process.
Fagbemi said the ousted local government chairpersons at the time 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, which saw the APC and Labour Party withdrawing from the elections.
The APC later ask the federal government to withhold the allocations, arguing that the elections were unlawful.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Adeleke said there is no basis to withhold the local government allocations.
The governor commended the Osun Council of Obas, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and “other lovers of justice for standing firm in demanding the release of withheld Osun local government allocations”.
The governor asked the federal government to release the funds to the elected LGA chairpersons “without delay”.
He said the NBA’s demand for the release of the funds confirmed that the APC chairmen were sacked by the court and not by him.
“The February 22, 2025, LG elections conducted by OSSIEC were valid and lawful,” he wrote.
“The PDP-elected chairmen and councillors are the rightful occupants and authority of Osun local government councils. There is no legal basis for the continued seizure of Osun State local government funds.
“I call on the Federal Government and the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to release our local government allocations without delay.”
