Adeleke Hails Obas, NBA Over Push For Osun LG Funds

Governor insists Federal Government has no basis to withhold allocations

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has commended the state Council of Obas, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other stakeholders for mounting pressure on the Federal Government to release local government allocations withheld from the state since February.

Adeleke, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, on Wednesday, described the interventions as courageous, saying they had vindicated his administration’s position on the prolonged local government crisis in the state.

“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,” the governor said.

The governor argued that the NBA report clarified that the All Progressives Congress (APC) council chairmen sacked in 2022 were removed by the courts and not by him, adding that their bid to secure a stay of execution failed.

According to him, the February 22, 2025 local government elections, which produced Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen and councillors, were conducted in obedience to a valid court order and have since been affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

“By law, today, PDP elected chairmen and councillors are the rightful occupants of Osun local government leadership. There is therefore no legal or constitutional basis for the withholding of Osun LG allocations,” Adeleke maintained.

He thanked prominent lawyers including Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Jacob Okutepa (SAN) and Ademola Oyedokun (Esq) for supporting the rule of law on the matter.

The NBA had in a strongly-worded letter to the Attorney General of the Federation, Afam Osigwe (SAN), and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, demanded that funds due to Osun councils be released without delay, describing the continuous seizure as “unconstitutional, unlawful, and a dangerous affront to the rule of law.”

Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney General of the Federation (2004), the NBA stressed that the President has no power to suspend or withhold local government funds regardless of political disputes.

The association accused the Federal Government of acting on a March 26 advisory from the Attorney General of the Federation, which allegedly directed the Minister of Finance to continue recognizing the ousted APC chairmen and withhold allocations until their disputed tenure ends in October 2025.

NBA warned that the action has crippled grassroots governance in Osun, while threatening to institute a public interest suit against the Federal Government if dialogue fails.

The Osun LG crisis stems from the October 2022 elections conducted under former governor Adegboyega Oyetola, which were nullified by the courts. Fresh polls held in February 2025 produced PDP candidates, whose legitimacy was later upheld by the Court of Appeal.