Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has commended the Council of Obas, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and several prominent legal practitioners and civic groups for pressing the Federal Government to release the state’s withheld local government allocations.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor described the interventions as courageous and grounded in the pursuit of justice, truth, and the rule of law. He insisted that the recent findings of the NBA vindicated his administration’s stance on the matter.
“I must particularly commend the NBA leadership for setting up a committee to investigate the Osun local government question and for demonstrating the rare courage to release the report, which declared that there is no legal basis for the continuous withholding of Osun local government allocations,” Adeleke said.
He noted that the NBA report clarified long-standing misconceptions, especially the claim that he was responsible for the removal of All Progressives Congress (APC) local government chairmen in 2022. “It was a court of law that sacked the APC chairmen from office, not me, as has been misrepresented in some quarters. After their sack, the APC chairmen applied for a stay of execution, which the court rejected. The NBA finding has confirmed this reality,” he explained.
Adeleke also recalled that the February 22, 2025, elections that produced new local government chairmen and councillors were conducted in line with a court order, adding that subsequent judicial pronouncements, including the Court of Appeal’s ruling of June 13, 2025, validated the legitimacy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership at the council level.
“The action of the NBA on the Osun local government matters has cleared all doubts. By law, today, PDP elected chairmen and councillors are the rightful occupants of the Osun local government leadership. There is therefore no legal or constitutional basis for the withholding of Osun LG allocations,” he stated.
The governor went on to thank traditional rulers and senior lawyers, including Musibau Adetunbi SAN, Mike Ozekhome SAN, Jacob Okutepa SAN, and Ademola Oyedokun Esq, for what he described as their steadfast support in defending truth and justice in the ongoing crisis.
Reiterating his demand, Adeleke appealed to the Federal Government to act in accordance with the law and the Constitution by releasing Osun’s seized allocations. “We will continue to pursue this matter through due process and within the confines of the law,” he affirmed.
The Nigerian Bar Association, in a separate move, had earlier called on the Federal Government to immediately release the statutory allocations, describing the prolonged withholding as unconstitutional, unlawful, and an affront to judicial authority.
In a strongly worded letter to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, insisted that the funds be disbursed to the duly elected council leadership that emerged from the February 2025 polls.
The association pointed out that, despite multiple judicial rulings clarifying the dispute over local government leadership in Osun, allocations due to the councils had remained withheld since February 2025, allegedly at the instance of federal authorities.
“The withholding of allocations meant for local governments in Osun State amounts to a violation of the Constitution, a disregard for the rule of law, and an affront to clear pronouncements of the courts,” the NBA declared.
Citing the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney General of the Federation (2004), the association reminded the government that the President lacks powers to suspend or withhold funds belonging to local councils, regardless of political disagreements. “It cannot but constitute clear impunity were it to be true that funds meant for the LGAs are currently being seized or withheld,” the NBA added.
