Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state have exchanged sharp words over the administration of local governments.
The APC accused the governor of misleading the public on the status of council chairmen and councillors, while the governor insisted that APC officials currently occupying council secretariats are doing so illegally.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the APC described the governor’s broadcast as an attempt to misinform the public, rejecting claims that reinstated APC council officials had been unlawfully occupying council secretariats for about a year.
Olabisi said Governor Adeleke should have acknowledged that he dissolved the legally elected APC chairmen and councillors upon assuming office, without allowing them to exhaust legal remedies.
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He also said the governor failed to disclose that a February 10, 2025, judgment of the Court of Appeal reinstated the APC council officials, adding that there was no record of an appeal against the ruling, which he said remains binding.
The APC spokesman dismissed claims that the reinstated officials were seeking tenure elongation, stating that the suit before the Federal High Court in Osogbo concerns the interpretation of the three-year tenure of the APC council executives.
He added that the reinstated chairmen and councillors were also challenging the legality of conducting another local government election while their tenure was still subsisting.
Responding, Governor Adeleke maintained that the tenure of the APC council officials had expired, describing any extension as illegal and unconstitutional.
He said local government autonomy should not be used to justify the unlawful control of council funds meant for the payment of health workers, teachers and pensioners, noting that his administration had continued to meet those obligations.
The governor argued that in a democracy, unelected persons or officials with expired tenure could not lawfully occupy local government councils or tamper with public funds.
He faulted what he described as police protection for officials whose tenure had lapsed, insisting that validly elected local government chairmen should be allowed to assume office.
Adeleke further argued that filing a court case does not amount to tenure extension, stressing that the constitution does not permit elongation of tenure under any circumstance.
He accused the Osun APC of engaging in what he described as a grave violation of the law and the constitution.
