Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has described the continuous stay of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s chairmen and councillors at the Local Government Council Secretariats as illegal and undemocratic.
The Governor, in a state broadcast on Monday, declared that the self-tenure elongation the APC officials granted themselves across the council in the state is against all known law of the country, especially since the said council officials admitted to having tenure that expired October 22, 2025.
According to the governor, it is a settled matter of law that the tenure of elected officials in Nigeria cannot be extended for a single day after the expiration of their tenure. The Supreme Court, in the case of former Governor Ladoja of Oyo State, ruled that the governor’s tenure cannot be extended after finding in his favour that he was removed from office illegally for about eleven months and reinstated him to office.
“In several filings that have become public documents in our courts, including the Supreme Court, their lawyers and the Attorney-General of the Federation admitted that these APC chairmen and councillors have no claim to office beyond October 22, 2025.
“To further confirm that their so-called tenure has expired, the APC chairmen and councillors approached the Federal High Court, seeking an extension of their expired tenure.
“That case has not been heard. But the very act of seeking extension amounts to a clear admission, both in law and in fact, that whatever so-called tenure they claimed they had had expired. Assuming, without conceding, that the APC chairmen and councillors had any tenure, the tenure expired on October 22, 2025.”
The governor further alleged that the APC-elected council officials have been successfully perpetrating illegality due to the brute support they enjoyed from the police under the instructions of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola.
“Despite these incontrovertible legal facts, they have continued to occupy the local government secretariat by brute force with police protection, allegedly acting on the instructions of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola,” the governor clarified.
“In a democracy, these APC chairmen and councillors threatened on their various social media platforms that they will continue to occupy the local government secretariats for as long as they want because they claim to have the backing of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
“Sometimes, I wonder if we are really under a democratic system of government, where nobody is above the law. In Osun State, it seems that the APC chairmen and councillors, whose so-called tenure has expired, are above the law by the grace of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
He appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene by stopping former Governor Oyetola from issuing illegal directives to the police, warning that “Mr President’s name is being used without his knowledge by former Governor Gboyega Oyetola to get the Nigerian police and the UBA to obey his alleged illegal directives.
Reacting, the Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Osun chapter, Mr Abiodun Idowu, said the Governor’s claims showed that he is ignorant of governance at the grassroots, especially with the pronouncement of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy.
He added that Governor Adeleke’s controversial executive order tampering with the freely given tenure of council officials is the root cause of the present crisis, urging the governor to desist from media blackmail and allow the court to determine the tenure issue before a Federal High Court in the state.
While berating the governor for dragging the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, into the issue of local government, which has been granted autonomy, he tasked the governor to look for another means to resolve any differences he has with Mr Oyetola and allow the court of law to determine the issue of local government administration.
“It is surprising that Governor Ademola Adeleke is now on the side that our tenure has expired, having argued that we do not have any tenure in the first place. For us, we have a tenure in place owing to the Court of Appeal judgement of February 10, 2025.
“We are now before a Federal High Court in the State to determine whether the Governor has the right to tamper with that tenure with his Executive Order of November 2022. The police were aware that we have been the legally backed council officials since last year and do not need any illegal instruction from anyone but need to stay on the side of the law.
“We are in the council secretariats legally, as we have approached the court to determine the issue of our tenure, which will come up February 3, after which we will know our position,” he added.
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