ZLP Kicks Against FG Over Alleged Payment of Osun LG Funds to Sacked Chairmen

The Osun State chapter of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has faulted the Federal Government over the alleged payment of Local Government funds into a United Bank for Africa (UBA) account said to have been opened for the benefit of sacked council chairmen and councillors in the state.

The party, in a press release made available to journalists in Osogbo on Monday by its Chairman, Comrade Abiodun Dabiri, described the move as “unconstitutional, reckless, and a betrayal of democratic governance.”

According to the statement, the affected chairmen and councillors were products of the controversial “Yes/No” local government election conducted on October 15, 2022, which has remained the subject of litigation.

ZLP said: “Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) clearly provides that local governments must be governed by democratically elected councils. Any attempt to divert statutory funds to unelected persons amounts to a violation of the Constitution and an administrative crime.”

The party further alleged that the action offends Section 162 of the Constitution, undermines the rule of law, and constitutes “gross misconduct” on the part of top government officials, including the Minister of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Warning that it would not sit idly by, ZLP vowed to resist the development.

“If this illegality is not reversed, we will mobilize and lead a One Million March across the South-West to defend democracy, protect the Constitution, and safeguard the people’s mandate,” Comrade Dabiri said.

He stressed that the people of Osun and the wider South-West “reject this fraud” and would not allow democratic institutions to be “thrown into the mud.”