Program Analyst
January 28, 2026
Osun LG Funds: Stop using Federal Cover for Lawlessness-Adeleke Responds to Oyetola
PRESS STATEMENT
OSOGBO- 28/01/2026 – Osunstate.gov.ng
The Osun State Government has noted the intemperate, misleading and inflammatory statement credited to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, over the ongoing illegal withholding of local government funds due to Osun State and the siege on council secretariats.
Contrary to the desperate attempt to reframe facts, the crisis over Osun local governments did not arise from propaganda, incompetence or disregard for the judiciary by Governor Ademola Adeleke. It arose from a brazen effort by unelected individuals, backed by partisan federal actors, to forcefully occupy local government secretariats after their sack by courts of law.
The claim that local government chairmen were “reinstated” and are lawfully in office is a gross distortion. The court judgments are public documents for anyone to read. There was no reinstatement. Even if there was a reinstatement, tenure is a matter of law, not sentiment. Once tenure expires, no court order can resurrect it. Going to court does not confer the right to remain in office. This elementary principle of constitutional democracy appears lost on Oyetola and all those now hiding behind selective judicial references.
Equally troubling is the attempt to weaponise the July 11, 2024 Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy. That landmark decision was meant to free councils from state executive strangulation, not to legitimise illegal tenure elongation, self-help or the continued occupation of office without a fresh electoral mandate.
Autonomy does not translate to anarchy.
More alarming is the growing perception of federal complicity. The continued freezing of Osun local government funds, despite clear legal advice and moral obligation, raises serious questions about political interference at the highest levels. This is no longer an Osun issue; it is a test case for Nigeria’s federalism, constitutional order and the credibility of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to the rule of law.
President Tinubu must urgently call Minister Adegboyega Oyetola to order.
He cannot continue to use federal power to punish a state for partisan reasons, nor should federal institutions be dragged into local political vendettas. Nigeria is not a fiefdom, and Osun State is not a conquered territory.
The Osun State Government remains committed to the rule of law, peaceful governance and the protection of grassroots democracy. What it will not accept is federal intimidation, historical revisionism or the conversion of expired mandates into perpetual entitlements.
Signed:
Oluomo Kolapo Alimi,
Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment
