The crisis over the control of local government secretariats in Osun State has worsened as eight persons, including a local government chairman, were reportedly killed and scores injured as elected local government officials on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, resumed offices at the various council secretariats.
APC tested their popularity and capacity for the 2026 governorship and 2027 general elections. There will be mass arrests of members of PDP in Osun State very soon.
The recent challenges regarding the administration of local governments in Osun highlight the importance of having accountable leaders who understand the responsibility they hold to the people. In contrast, former Governor Oyetola’s approach has sometimes been reckless or driven by personal agendas. Rauf Aregbesola has always emphasized that true governance is rooted in the service of the people, not the self-interest of the few.
The Osun local government crisis is that APC wanted to check if federal government backing will be helpful in the 2026 Osun election. APC wanted to check if they are still acceptable by the good people of Osun. APC attempted to take the grassroots to overcome the central challenge. APC has challenged the confidence of Governor Adeleke, whether he’s in charge or a weakling. APC learnt a lesson the hard way between 2022 and 2025.
Read also: Crises in Osun council secretariats amid reinstatement of APC’s chairmen
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, has been accused of using his position to instigate unrest in Osun State following the Appeal Court judgement on the sacked local government chairmen. The former governor of the state is exploiting his ministerial position and close ties to President Bola Tinubu to manipulate security agencies in a bid to cause political instability.
Governor Adeleke had insisted that the sacked council chairmen cannot return to office, citing security reasons. However, Oyetola said the Appeal Court judgement would be implemented through the instruments of law. He added that the council executives should resume.
An intelligence report has revealed that the present strategy and plan by Oyetola is to make the state ungovernable for Governor Ademola Adeleke so that they can hide under the guise of a crisis in the state to declare a state of emergency in Osun State. Following the crises allegedly orchestrated by Oyetola and his APC thugs, the National Secretary of the APC, Dr Ajibola Basiru, who is from Osun State, had on live Channels television on Monday evening urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state to curtail further violence.
Basiru said that “I will suggest that perhaps it will be necessary for the federal government to declare a state of emergency. It has gotten to that stage where hapless people coming from farms are attacked by uncontrollable PDP thugs.”
Their major target is to declare a state of emergency because they know that if the elections are allowed to hold today, Governor Adeleke will still win. So they want to abort his second term through crisis and violence to pave the way for the declaration of a state of emergency.
Presently, Oyetola is using federal might to engineer evil and anarchy in Osun State, and this nonsense must stop with all urgency. Like the Edo 2024 governorship election, Osun State is facing a problem when an umpire connives in conjunction with security agents and some people in the federal government to systematically rig an election by announcing magical figures, and then the country’s democracy is in serious trouble. Fundamentally, how can the people trust a system where an election is allegedly held but the umpire decides who to announce as the winner?
I want to clarify that the recent judgement by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, which ruled in favour of the APC-elected chairmen and councillors from the October 15, 2022 local government elections, did not include a specific order reinstating them to office.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the case brought by the Peoples Democratic Party against the elected APC officials was speculative; the court did not overturn the Federal High Court’s earlier decision that had nullified the election.
Another verdict by the Court of Appeal, Akure, was a case filed by the APC, Allied People’s Movement, and one other person, which was dismissed on January 13, 2025, after the appellants abandoned their appeal.
The Court of Appeal struck out the suit filed by the PDP to challenge the conduct of the Osun State local government election in 2022. However, the same Court of Appeal also dismissed an appeal filed by the APC and APM against the judgement that nullified the election.
The Court of Appeal did not issue any order reinstating the sacked APC chairmen and councillors, and that, legally, the 30 local government areas in Osun State remain vacant.
To this effect, there is no order returning any purported elected officials of the APC to office. In particular, there is no order stopping the conduct of the election already scheduled for February 22, 2025.
It’s painful when propaganda and lies are being spread like a virus about Rauf Aregbesola. Osun APC is today notorious for losing elections, and some lunatic members claimed that they have suspended Aregbesola. This is not the 14th century. This is the 21st century. This was how the Oyetola-led government lied against Aregbesola without proof. For a good four years, it was blame games. Those who boasted that they could win the Osun 2022 governorship election without Aregbesola made President Tinubu lose the 2023 presidential election in Osun State, and today they are equally blaming Aregbesola for their loss.
The present fight in Osun State is about the 2026 and 2027 general elections. APC is dead in Osun today; that is why the party lost all national assembly seats and managed to win one house of assembly seat out of 26 members during the 2023 elections. APC is out of 2026 Osun politics because the party lost the 2023 presidential election, the three senatorial seats, lost the nine House of Reps seats and managed to win one seat out of twenty-six members in Osun State House of Assembly.
Former Governor Oyetola didn’t conduct any election until he was ousted by Gov. Adeleke . Oyetola only gave 8 weeks notice to the political parties which was against the Electoral Act 2022 and so the election was boycotted by other political parties which resulted in a YES/NO election. PDP and APP instituted cases at different high courts against the elections and won. The two cases were appealed by APC. The appellate court in Akure in the case of APP vs APC dismissed the case and upheld the judgement of the high court that sacked the YES or NO elected chairmen and councillors.
The appeal court in Akure didn’t pass any judgement that asked that the elected chairmen and councillors should be reinstated. APC is only left with one option, and that’s to take their appeal to the Supreme Court against APP, as the judgement is still standing against them.
The minister of Marine and Blue economy is only trying to cause mayhem in Osun state by using his position to control the state security personnel. I want to appeal to former Governor Oyetola to be mindful of the kind of words he speaks to his loyalists like he did at his country home, where he allegedly incited them to take over the LG forcefully and that the FG is behind them.
The North is seriously mobilising with a consensus that Bola Tinubu must give way in the 2027 election; there’s no doubt about the consensus. Former Governor Oyetola should not create more problems for President Tinubu in the South-West.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via [email protected].
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