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APC, PDP TRADE BLAME OVER OSUN LGs THREE-MONTH SHUTDOWN
The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State on Monday traded blame over the prolonged shutdown of local government secretariats across the state, which has now entered its third month.
Since February 17, 2025, workers in the 30 local government areas of the state have stayed away from work, following a directive from the Osun State President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe.
Ogungbangbe issued the directive amid a tussle for LG control by ruling PDP and the opposition APC.
The violence left at least six people were dead, including the APC-elected chairman of Irewole Local Government, Remi Abbas.
While APC-backed chairmen have since assumed control of the secretariats, the absence of civil servants has crippled operations in all LGAs.
Efforts by the APC leadership to persuade workers to return have so far failed.
Meanwhile, NULGE has filed a lawsuit at the Osun State High Court (Ilesa Division), accusing the APC-elected chairmen of forceful takeover and illegal occupation of council secretariats.
Speaking with The PUNCH, the APC Director of Media in the state, Mr. Kola Olabisi, decried the ongoing administrative vacuum at the grassroots, accusing Governor Ademola Adeleke of deliberately orchestrating the strike.
“The absence of governance at the local government level in Osun State for the past three months without Governor Adeleke making any attempt to resolve the crisis is evidence of monumental failure. Whatever affects the part will inevitably affect the whole,” Olabisi stated.
He alleged that the PDP-led administration was sponsoring the local government workers’ strike through a “pliant” NULGE leadership to undermine the APC chairmen reinstated by the appellate court.
“Governor Adeleke, who is contesting the February 10, 2025, Court of Appeal judgment, has effectively used the NULGE leadership to shut down the entire LG system since then,” he added.
Olabisi further lamented the hardship faced by residents due to the shutdown, claiming that many now travel to neighboring states for basic services usually provided at the council level.
“It is not an overstatement to say that the Adeleke administration, which survives on monthly federal allocations, has suffered revenue losses due to this shutdown. Yet, the governor remains unbothered, as long as it doesn’t disrupt his social calendar,” he added.
He called on the National Assembly and the Presidency to intervene and alleviate the suffering of Osun residents.
But in response, the Osun PDP spokesperson, Oladele Bamiji, absolved Governor Adeleke of any blame, alleging that the APC instigated the violence in a bid to force a declaration of emergency rule in the state.
He praised Adeleke’s decision to rely on legal means to address the dispute rather than escalating tensions.
“What the governor did was a temporary halt of physical activities at the local governments — a protective measure to safeguard lives and property. That is the hallmark of a responsible government,” Bamiji said.
He accused the APC of attempting to exploit the situation to regain control of the state by destabilizing local government administration.
“The APC planned to use the LG imbroglio to plunge Osun into chaos and push for a state of emergency. Adeleke’s approach prevented needless bloodshed,” he said.
Bamiji also urged President Bola Tinubu to ignore the APC’s call for intervention, describing it as a desperate move by a party still smarting from its defeat in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
“They are bitter because another party now governs Osun. Their talk of ‘federal might’ and reliance on the President to validate their lawlessness is laughable,” he added.
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