Osun APC Chairmen Sue FG, State Govt, Demand Tenure Extension to 2028

,

 

Osun APC Chairmen Sue FG, State Govt, Demand Tenure Extension to 2028

 

The crisis rocking the local government system in Osun State has taken a new turn as reinstated chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have dragged the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of Police, the Osun State Government, and others before the Federal High Court in Osogbo.

 

In the fresh suit, marked FHC/OS/CS/147/2025, the chairmen are seeking an extension of their tenure until February 19, 2028.

 

The claimants—led by Saheed Onibonokuta and seven others—were elected in October 2022 but removed by Governor Ademola Adeleke after a Federal High Court nullified the election. However, the Court of Appeal reinstated them in February 2025.

 

Despite their reinstatement, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took control of the councils after the February 22, 2025 local government election, sparking parallel claims to power. This has left the councils in disarray, with workers under the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) embarking on strike and federal allocations withheld.

 

In their suit, filed by counsel Barrister Muhideen Adeoye, the chairmen argued that their tenure should run from the date they were inaugurated—February 19, 2025—not from October 2022 when they were first elected but barred from assuming office.

 

They contended that the February 2025 elections conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) were unlawful, insisting their tenure was still valid and could not be truncated.

 

The defendants listed in the suit are:

 

1. Attorney-General of the Federation

 

 

2. Inspector-General of Police

 

 

3. Osun State Governor

 

 

4. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Osun State

 

 

5. Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC)

 

 

6. Osun State House of Assembly

 

 

 

The claimants are seeking eight reliefs, including a declaration that OSSIEC acted illegally by conducting fresh elections during their subsisting tenure, and that any steps taken to swear in new council members since February 22, 2025, are “illegal, unlawful, invalid, unconstitutional, null and void.”

 

They also prayed the court to hold that any attempt to limit their tenure to October 2025 is unconstitutional, and to mandate the AGF and IGP to provide adequate security for them until their tenure expires in February 2028.

 

Furthermore, they want the court to restrain Governor Adeleke, the Attorney-General of the State, OSSIEC, and the House of Assembly from taking steps to remove or force them out of office in October 2025 or any time before February 19, 2028.