Osun LG crisis: PDP chairmen resume in some council secretariats

Chairmen and councillors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 22, 2025 local government election on Friday resumed duties in some council secretariats across Osun State, following a Federal High Court judgment.

 

The development comes despite warnings from the All Progressives Congress (APC), which insists the matter is now before the Court of Appeal.

 

The Deputy Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Oladele Bamiji, said the PDP officials resumed after the Federal High Court in Osogbo ruled that the tenure of APC chairmen elected in the October 15, 2022 local government election had expired.

 

According to him, PDP chairmen returned to council secretariats in Ede North, Ede South, Iwo, Boripe, Ifelodun and Ila local government areas.

 

Tension, however, erupted at the Olorunda Local Government Secretariat in Osogbo, where police officers prevented PDP officials from gaining access to the premises after locking the entrance gate. Security personnel later held discussions with the officials before they left the area.

 

Bamiji maintained that the PDP chairmen remain the legally elected local government administrators in the state and said they would fully resume work on Monday in compliance with the court judgment.

 

He also dismissed claims of widespread resistance, insisting the APC had no legal basis to stop the PDP officials from assuming office.

 

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Osun and an APC chairman, Adegoke Ogunsola, accused the PDP of attempting to forcefully take over council secretariats.

 

Ogunsola disclosed that the APC chairmen had already filed an appeal against the Federal High Court judgment and a motion for stay of execution, which he said had been served on the relevant parties, including the police.

 

He argued that the PDP chairmen were not parties to the suit decided by the Federal High Court and, therefore, could not rely on the judgment to assume office.

 

Ogunsola urged residents to remain peaceful and await the outcome of the appeal, warning that any breakdown of law and order would be the responsibility of the state government.