Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has appealed to President Tinubu to urgently intervene in the continued withholding of local government allocations, warning that the fund seizure is crippling councils and inflicting severe hardship on workers at the grassroots.
Speaking during a statewide broadcast on Monday, Adeleke said the prolonged freeze of the allocations has paralysed local government administration and forced the state government into heavy borrowing to keep essential services running.
According to the governor, the withheld funds are the financial backbone of the councils, sustaining the payment of salaries for primary school teachers, health workers, council staff and retirees.
“The situation is becoming unbearable. Local government allocations are the lifeline of governance at the grassroots. Without these funds, teachers, nurses, council workers and retirees are the ones suffering,” Adeleke said.
He explained that the crisis stemmed from a political and legal dispute over the control of the 30 local government councils in the state, following council elections conducted by his administration in February 2025.
The polls were boycotted by the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party, which disputed the status of previously sacked APC chairmen. Despite objections and advice from the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to suspend the exercise, the elections went ahead and were won by the Peoples Democratic Party in a clean sweep.
The APC later petitioned the Federal Government to withhold statutory allocations to the councils, arguing that the elections were unlawful.
Although the Supreme Court, in December, struck out a suit filed by the Osun State Attorney General seeking the release of the funds on the ground that he lacked locus standi, the apex court also ruled that the Federal Government acted illegally by withholding the allocations and dismissed claims of contempt against the state.
Adeleke said that despite the judgment, the funds have remained unreleased, leaving local governments financially strangulated.
He accused his predecessor and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, of backing the ousted APC chairmen to continue occupying council secretariats, even after court decisions and the expiration of their tenure in October 2025.
“Even if the courts had not removed them, their four year tenure ended in October last year. Yet they continue to occupy council offices by force, allegedly with police backing acting on the instructions of the former governor,” he said.
Describing the situation as an assault on democracy and the rule of law, Adeleke insisted that duly elected local government officials must be allowed to function without intimidation or interference.
The governor revealed that for almost one year, his administration has been compelled to fund council salaries from state resources to prevent a complete breakdown of services.
“To pay workers, we had to suspend allowances for senior civil servants and political appointees. It has slowed down key projects and caused discomfort, but workers must not be made to suffer,” he said.
He warned that the arrangement was no longer sustainable and could plunge the state into deeper financial trouble if the stalemate persists.
Appealing directly to President Tinubu, Adeleke said he believed the president was not personally involved in the continued withholding of the funds and urged him to act decisively to restore normalcy to grassroots governance in Osun.
“I call on Mr President to protect our democracy and rescue Osun local governments from the grip of those whose self awarded tenure has long expired,” the governor said.
