LG crisis: Adeleke, Oyetola trade blame over withheld funds, secretariat siege

•Your frivolous lawsuits responsible for delay in LG funds — Oyetola

•Stop using federal cover for lawlessness — Adeleke

By Jeleel Olawale

The crisis rocking the local government administration in Osun State has escalated into a fierce war of words between the State Government and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.

Both camps on Wednesday exchanged blistering accusations regarding the alleged withholding of local government funds, the legality of current council chairmen, and the perceived interference of federal power in state affairs.

In a statement on Wednesday, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, Special Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, dismissed the Governor’s claims as propaganda, falsehood, and deliberate misinformation designed to cover up administrative failures.

Akinola absolved the Minister of any role in the withholding of funds, placing the blame squarely on the Osun State Government.

“If there is any delay or complication in financial disbursements, the responsibility lies squarely with the Adeleke-led Osun State Government, which has flooded the courts with frivolous lawsuits in a failed attempt to overturn settled judicial decisions,” Akinola said.

Contrary to the State Government's claim of a siege, the Minister’s aide asserted that local government secretariats are open and fully operational.

He maintained that the officials currently in office are backed by a valid Court of Appeal judgment delivered on February 10, 2025, which he claimed the state government failed to appeal.

“The reinstated chairmen were elected for a three-year term and were removed unlawfully shortly after assuming office,” Akinola argued, referencing the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024 ruling on local government autonomy to buttress the argument that governors lack the power to dissolve elected councils.

Akinola also vehemently denied allegations that Minister Oyetola was influencing the Nigeria Police to intimidate the state, terming such claims irresponsible.

He insisted that the only crisis facing the state is a governor unwilling to accept legal reality.

Responding, the Osun State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Barrister Kolapo Alimi, described recent statements credited to Minister Oyetola as intemperate, misleading and inflammatory.

Alimi accused the Minister and other federal actors of providing cover for unelected individuals to forcefully occupy local government secretariats under the guise of reinstatement.

He argued that the crisis is not a result of Governor Ademola Adeleke's disregard for the judiciary, but rather a brazen effort by partisan actors to weaponize federal might.
Addressing the status of the council officials, Alimi insisted that the tenure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen had expired by law, rendering any court judgment on reinstatement moot.

“The claim that local government chairmen were ‘reinstated’ and are lawfully in office is a gross distortion,” Alimi stated. “Even if there was a reinstatement, tenure is a matter of law, not sentiment. Once tenure expires, no court order can resurrect it. Going to court does not confer the right to remain in office.”

The Commissioner also raised alarm over the continued freezing of Osun local government funds, describing it as a test case for Nigeria’s federalism.

He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene urgently.

“President Tinubu must urgently call Minister Adegboyega Oyetola to order. He cannot continue to use federal power to punish a state for partisan reasons… Osun State is not a conquered territory,” Alimi warned.