Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has said the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) report on the prolonged crisis over local government funds has vindicated his administration of any wrongdoing.
The governor, in a statement by his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed on Wednesday, commended the association for what he described as “rare courage” in affirming that the continuous withholding of Osun’s local government allocations lacked legal basis.
The NBA, in a letter to the Attorney General of the Federation, signed by its President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, demanded the release of allocations to the duly elected council chairmen and councillors who emerged from the February 22, 2025 local government elections.
Adeleke noted that the report clarified longstanding misconceptions about the removal of All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen in 2022.
“I am particularly pleased that the NBA report noted it was a court of law that sacked the APC chairmen from office in 2022, not me, as has been wrongly suggested,” he said. “Our administration has acted within the confines of the law and the constitution, as affirmed by the NBA’s findings.”
The governor stressed that the February 2025 elections were conducted in line with court directives and further upheld by the Court of Appeal’s ruling of June 13, 2025, which affirmed that the current PDP chairmen and councillors are the lawful occupants of local government offices in Osun.
He thanked senior lawyers, including Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Jacob Okutepa, SAN, for supporting what he described as the fight for justice and rule of law.
Adeleke also praised the Council of Obas, led by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, for appealing to the federal government to intervene, describing their role as “fatherly” and urging Abuja to heed their call.
“The withholding of Osun local government allocations has no legal or constitutional justification,” the governor said. “I once again call on the federal government to release the seized funds in line with law and constitutional demands.”
