The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) may embark on a national strike over the withheld local government funds in Osun State.

The President-General of the union, Aliyu Kankara, who stated this on Thursday while speaking in Abuja over the issue, accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of declining to respect the Supreme Court judgement on direct payment of local government allocation to their respective accounts.

Kankara lamented that state actors have taken over local government allocations in Osun State and are creating an atmosphere of discord, throwing clogs in the wheel of progress.

Berating the actions of some Federal Government officials in the matter, the NULGE chief explained: “On 10th June 2025, a letter signed by one Okolie Rita O. FCA, emanated from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, directing that any two of the Chairmen, Treasurers or Directors of Finance and Administration or Personnel Management in each of the Local Governments in Osun State should endorse an application letter for the opening and maintenance of the accounts earlier opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for each of the Local Governments, a directive which is an aberration and in contravention with the law on Local Government Fiscal Autonomy.”

He hinted that NULGE is embarrassed by a surreptitious move to supplant extant law and place the running of the accounts of Osun State local governments in the hands of impostors who are not recognised by the law.

According to the union, the law stipulates that authorised signatories to local government accounts are career officers, specifically the directors of finance and supplies and directors of administration and general services, with the local government chairmen and heads of local government administration to countersign for confirmation.

While drawing the President’s attention to the anomalies, the NULGE chief urged the President not to allow unscrupulous elements to tarnish his legacy.

“We are, therefore, inviting the attention of all well-meaning Nigerians particularly, the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to this affront on the law, barefaced attempts to rubbish his legacies, most especially the same battle you fought and won as a Governor of Lagos State some years ago. This intention and unscrupulous efforts of the saboteurs tend to deny the good people of Osun State the abundant benefits derivable from the Local Government Fiscal Autonomy, which has not only endeared the Tinubu Government to the masses but has also brought the dividends of good governance to the grassroots,” he added.

NULGE also enjoined the Accountant General of the Federation, from whose office the letter of 10th June 2024 emerged, to reconsider the stand of his office and be properly guided by the law on this issue.

It insisted that the spirit and letter of the law do not leave signatories to the local government accounts open, but restricts the signatories to the Director of Finance and Supply and Director of General Services and Administrations, with Local Government Chairmen and Heads of Local Government Administration to confirm all the payments.

NULGE also urged CBN not to recognise any intending signatories to the local government accounts in Osun State other than career officers who are designated as DFAS and DGSAs as enshrined in the Local Government Financial Memorandum and Approved guidelines for the Administration of Local Government Areas in Osun State.

The union also appealed to the Governor of CBN, Minister of Finance and Accountant General of the Federation to work together and ensure the release of the withheld Osun State Local Government Allocation from January 2025 to date to the legitimate Local Government Officers as delivered by the Appeal Court Judgement of 13th June 2025 at Akure by Honorable Justice Peter Chudi Obiorah, JCA affirming the tenure of the democratically elected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Local Government Chairmen in Osun State (CTC).

NULGE then declared that if all its pleas fail to accomplish desired results, it will be left with no choice but to resort to the last option offered to them by the relevant labour laws.

He added, “We have a choice. Our last choice is always the last resort, which is withdrawing our services. We will not hesitate to do this if we are forced to do it. We hope things will not degenerate to that extent that we will need to call our members out on industrial action.”