Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has urgently called on President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government to release more than ₦130 billion in statutory allocations withheld from the state’s local governments since February 2025.
In a statewide broadcast on Monday, Adeleke warned that the continued withholding is severely crippling grassroots governance and causing widespread hardship for local government workers, primary school teachers, nurses, health workers across 332 primary health centres, council staff, traditional rulers, and pensioners.
The governor revealed that his administration has been forced to bear the salary burden for nearly a year through difficult sacrifices and alternative funding sources, describing the situation as unsustainable.
“Governance is about humanity, responsibility, and compassion, but this burden cannot continue indefinitely,” he said.
Adeleke tied the funding crisis to an ongoing occupation of local government secretariats by former All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors.
He noted that these officials were removed by Federal High Court judgments in Osogbo (November 2022) and upheld by the Court of Appeal in February and June 2025.
He stressed that his government complied with the court orders by holding fresh local government elections, leading to the swearing-in of new chairmen and councillors on February 23, 2025.
The current occupants, he said, are “impostors” with no lawful mandate.The governor accused former Governor Gboyega Oyetola of allegedly supporting the illegal occupation through police protection, claiming armed officers and political thugs have harassed and intimidated workers trying to resume duties.
Adeleke also criticized United Bank for Africa (UBA) for allegedly allowing unauthorized access to local government accounts, with senior bank officials already facing criminal prosecution.
He questioned whether such conduct would be permitted in major financial centres like New York or London.
Describing the situation as a battle between constitutional order and impunity, Adeleke emphasized that the Constitution makes no provision for tenure elongation.
He appealed directly to President Tinubu, whom he said is not complicit in the alleged illegality to intervene, release the funds, and protect democratic institutions from what he called an unlawful siege.
The governor urged Nigerians, democracy advocates, and Osun residents to demand an immediate end to the secretariat occupations and the release of the council funds.
He called for calm and reiterated his administration’s commitment to upholding the rule of law while safeguarding the welfare of the people.
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