Withdraw suits frustrating release of LG funds, APC tells Adeleke
Osun State Local Government Service Commission has announced the deployment of five Heads of Local Government Administration to new duty posts, as the struggle for the control of council areas in the state deepened.

Meanwhile, a fresh dispute erupted within the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, as two rival chairmen issued conflicting statements, yesterday, over the control, tenure and funding of local councils.

However, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of distorting facts on the crisis rocking the local council administration in the state, asking the governor to withdraw all litigations designed to frustrate the release of the funds.

Also, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, accused the governor of misleading the public over local government funding.

A letter announcing the movement of the affected local council career heads from their previous duty post to the new ones, dated January 26, 2025, signed by the Permanent Secretary, Mudashir Oyedeji, was obtained in Osogbo.

Even as the commission did not state reasons for changing the affected officials, one of the council areas that will have a new career head is Boripe, where the immediate past governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, hails from.

According to the letter, all five new HLAs were moved from the LCDA to the main councils.

In a statement released in Osogbo, ALGON chairman elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sarafadeen Awotunde, accused another ALGON faction led by Samuel Abiodun, elected under APC, in October 2022, of issuing “a misleading account” of recent developments in the local government system.

Awotunde, who is also the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Council, said claims that council activities were stalled by the state government were inaccurate.

He insisted that Governor Adeleke had continued to prioritise grassroots development across the state.

According to him, the people of Osun can see ongoing road works, rehabilitation of schools, upgrading of health facilities and payment of inherited salary arrears across the state, which contradict claims of stagnation at the grassroots.

Questioning the legitimacy of the councils led by Abiodun’s group, Awotunde argued that their continued occupation of council secretariats followed a misinterpretation of appellate court decisions on local government tenure.

Earlier, the ALGON faction led by Abiodun had faulted the allegations, insisting that delays in council projects were caused by ongoing litigations initiated by the state government.

According to the APC, the challenges facing Osun require cooperation, not confrontation.

Addressing a press conference yesterday at the party secretariat, APC chairman in Osun, Tajudeen Lawal, stressed that “Their (APC chairmen) return to office followed clear and subsisting judicial pronouncements, most notably the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on February 10, 2025, which nullified the foundation upon which their earlier removal was predicated.”