Tension Rises in Osun State Over Attempt to Reinstate Sacked Local Government Chairmen and Councillors

Tension is mounting in Osun State as controversy brews over the reinstatement of sacked local government chairmen and councillors.

The Osun State government has scheduled fresh council elections across the 30 local government areas this weekend. However, the state’s leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), insists that the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure reinstated the council bosses appointed by former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola—now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy—shortly after his defeat in the 2022 governorship election to Senator Ademola Adeleke.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in Osogbo, Governor Adeleke called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and restrain Oyetola, warning that his actions could plunge the state into crisis.

Adeleke accused Oyetola of colluding with security chiefs in the state to enforce a nonexistent court order aimed at reinstating the sacked chairmen in defiance of legal rulings. He cautioned that if the minister was not stopped, the people of Osun would take necessary steps to protect themselves.

“I urge Mr. President to direct the National Security Adviser and the Attorney General of the Federation to personally verify that the Court of Appeal judgment did not reinstate the sacked local government chairmen and councillors,” Adeleke said. “There is also a subsisting court ruling that nullified the 2022 local government elections that produced them.”

The governor further alleged that security chiefs in Osun were taking directives from Oyetola due to his familial ties to President Tinubu.

“While we are committed to maintaining peace, we call on well-meaning Nigerians to intervene before the situation escalates,” he added.