The Osun State Government has once again called on the Federal Government to release allocations for the state’s local governments, citing a recent Court of Appeal judgement as justification.
In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, the state government said there was “no legal or political basis” for withholding the funds.
Alimi maintained that the elected chairmen and councillors from the February 22, 2025 local government elections are the rightful leaders, as upheld by the Appeal Court’s June 13 ruling.
He added that there is no court order halting the release of the allocations and argued that even if the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy were applied, payment would still require accounts to be opened with the duly elected officials as signatories.
Alimi further alleged that President Bola Tinubu only became aware of the fund seizure through a newspaper report during the Eid holidays, claiming the action was taken by the Attorney-General of the Federation without presidential approval.
The state welcomed the intervention of traditional rulers who plan to meet the President over the matter, warning that the continued withholding of funds was inflicting hardship on grassroots communities.
However, The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, however, has dismissed the claim, accusing Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration of misleading the public.
In astatement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC described the government’s claims as “misinformation,” insisting that no federal agency is withholding the funds.
The party said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was acting in line with the February 10, 2025 Court of Appeal judgment, which reinstated APC’s local government chairmen and councillors.
The APC accused Governor Adeleke of instigating a six-month strike by the state’s chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and of attempting to benefit politically from the fund release.
It also alleged that the governor, through a pending suit, had asked the Federal High Court to stop the CBN from paying the APC council officials.
The party criticised Adeleke for his absence from the state, claiming he had been away for four weeks for his nephew’s wedding preparations, and accused him of sacking thousands of workers without replacements.
It further alleged that the administration owed local governments N84 billion in illegally withdrawn allocations and had spent N3.1 billion on travel in the first half of 2025.
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