CRIES of neglect echo across Osun State’s Local Government Areas (LGAs), where communities are left stranded in poverty and despair as the Federal Government and the Osun State administration lock horns over political control of local councils.

From dilapidated schools to abandoned health centres and confused workers, ordinary citizens are caught in the middle of a bitter feud that shows no sign of abating.

In towns like Ede, Ilobu, Ejigbo, Osogbo, Ife and Ilesa, residents say life has become unbearable. Markets are shrinking, youth unemployment is on the rise, and basic services are collapsing.

The local councils, which should be the closest tier to the people, have become powerless, stripped of resources, and reduced to spectators in a political tug-of-war.

While the legal and political issues rage on, this investigation focuses on the human dimensions of the crisis—exposing the real cost of partisan powerplay on ordinary people.

Genesis of the crisis that has left citizens in misery

The Federal Government (FG) withheld Osun’s local government allocations earlier in 2025, citing a dispute over council elections.

While billions meant for schools, clinics, and rural roads remain frozen, communities sink deeper into neglect.

The federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, declared that the local government chairmen elected on the platform of the PDP are illegal.

According to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen elected under former governor Gboyega Oyetola are the legal occupants of the LGAs because their tenure had not expired.

The Osun State government under Ademola Adeleke has continued to challenge that. As far as his administration is concerned, PDP chairmen and councillors that emerged in an election conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) in February are the authentic leaders.

The ICIR reports that the AGF, Fagbemi, told Adeleke before the February election to direct OSIEC to suspend the election.

 

In a statement on Thursday, February 20, he warned that conducting a new local government poll would be invalid and unconstitutional.

Adeleke went on to conduct the election and inaugurated the newly elected chairpersons and councillors in the state capital on Sunday, February 23.

Reacting, the director of media of the APC in the state, Kola Olabisi, alleged that the election results were manufactured.

The grass suffers

What began as a policy dispute has now turned into a battleground of political ego, with citizens left abandoned in the ruins.

While the bickering continues, billions meant for schools, clinics, and rural roads remain frozen, and communities sink deeper into neglect.

The crisis that has continued to slow down the progress of the state stems from a long-standing conflict over who the authentic local government leaders are — the APC chairmen and councillors’ backed by the FG, or the state government-backed PDP chairmen elected in February 2025.

With dwindling infrastructure and rising insecurity in some communities, the political stalemate is fast turning into a humanitarian crisis.

For many in rural communities, the war between Abuja and Osogbo is more than a headline. It is a daily struggle for survival. Children trek miles to schools without teachers, patients travel long distances to find drugs, and families go to bed hungry. The disconnect between the leaders and the led has never been more glaring.

Supreme Court landmark ruling in favour of LG autonomy

The FG had dragged the 36 state governors before the Supreme Court over the age-long debate of full autonomy for local governments.

In its ruling on Thursday, July 11, 2024, the apex court said it is unconstitutional for governors to hold council funds. The apex court thereby granted the nation’s 774 LGAs financial autonomy.

The court also ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state governments to hold on to or manage such allocations and directed the 774 LGAs to commence managing their funds.

The judgement was received with joy across the nation and was supposed to free the LGAs from the grip of the state governors. But for the people of Osun, their joy has been short-lived by the freezing of council funds due to what many termed an unnecessary political power play.

While the FG has insisted that the withholding is necessary pending judicial clarification of the issue, the Osun State government, insists that the elected councils under PDP are valid and that the continued freeze of funds is unlawful.

The APC contested the outcomes, and subsequent actions led to parallel claims over who legitimately controls councils.

There have been Federal High Court decisions in Osun about local government matters referenced by state lawyers as subsisting, which the state says support its position. The AGF and others, however, say further litigation and inconsistencies justify caution.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal have issued rulings that have been used by both sides to press claims of legitimacy. The state points to appellate decisions affirming the legitimacy of councils elected on February 22, 2025, while opponents claim jurisdictional or procedural defects in lower court orders.

Where things stand

In August 2025, the Osun State government headed to the Supreme Court, where it asked the apex Court to order the FG to refund several months of allocations.

Osun State government is seeking an order restraining the AGF, CBN and Accountant General from withholding funds and asking the court to declare the councils duly constituted. The AGF has also pressed the Supreme Court for relief against the state. The case remains live, and the final judicial resolution at the apex court will determine access to the withheld funds.

Parallel LG chairmen and councillors in Osun

The ICIR discovered that while the February 22, 2025, Local government elections conducted by the Adeleke administration produced one set of chairmen and councillors (reported as PDP winners in many accounts), there also exists chairmen and councillors from the APC who are laying claim to the seat.

On March 26, 2025, the AGF, in a letter, directed that Osun’s local government funds be withheld pending resolution of the dispute. This is the administrative action that led to the freeze of statutory transfers.

Many have labelled the existence of two sets of LG chairmen and councillors in Osun State as an aberration.

When The ICIR visited some local council secretariats in Osun, it was discovered that while the PDP chairmen and councillors elected in February are staying far away from the councils as advised by the governor, some of the APC chairmen elected under former governor, Oyetola have taken control of the secretariats which are nearly empty and deserted due to the absence of local government workers under the aegis of NULGE.

Weeds, grass take over LG secretariats 

The ICIR observed during a visit that, as the bickering and power play continue, most of the LG secretariats are surrounded by overgrown grass and are a shadow of themselves.

At the Ede South LG secretariat, no single person was available when visited. Abandoned trucks belonging to the council were seen wasting away while the offices remain locked.

At Olorunda LGA, apart from policemen who were seen sleeping on duty, the once bubbling LGA was a ghost of its old self.

Similarly, no single activity or person was seen at the Ilesa East LG secretariat, while the place looked abandoned, deserted and neglected.

At Ilesa West, the secretariat looks like a ghost town; completely non-functional and unkempt.

Same as the Oshogbo LG secretariat, where policemen were seen chatting with no sign of any activity.

We are suffering, in pains, Osun residents cry out

The political tussle between the Federal and Osun State governments over the authenticity of local government leaders has left citizens across the state stranded, with residents lamenting that the paralysis of local councils has shut down essential services, deepened poverty and cut them off from the tier of government closest to them.

From Osogbo to Ilesa, Ilobu to Olorunda, residents who spoke with The ICIR expressed frustration, pain and helplessness. While their experiences differ in detail, from stalled economic activity to inaccessible council offices, their common cry is that politics has turned them into collateral damage.

“They are not working. Staff are not going there now,” said Ademola Oladejo, who described how the partisan fight between APC and PDP chairmen in the state had crippled local councils.

He insisted that, as far as he is concerned, the February elections produced authentic chairmen from the PDP, yet he doesn’t understand why citizens have been left stranded.

“The federal government should release allocation to local government so everything can go smoothly. To me, it’s APC people that caused this,” he added.

For Tahiru Ismail in Osogbo, a motorcycle (Okada) rider who spoke in Yoruba, the breakdown has brought everyday life to a halt.

“People who need important documents like a certificate of origin or marriage documents cannot get them. The council secretariats are shut down. People are really suffering, there is no money in town, and you know the local government is the closest to the masses,” he said.

In Ilesa, Komolafe Abiodun painted a picture of lost opportunities. “If local governments are working, new things would have entered this town because they are the closest to the masses. They would have employed new people. In my area we are suffering poor power supply — we would have cried to them to help us, but when they are not functioning, who do we cry to?” he asked.

A food seller in front of one of the local government offices, who also spoke in Yoruba, Lateefah Adeshina (Not real name), said she has been thrown into economic debt and crisis due to the continuous closure of the offices.

The single mother of four said she is not sure her children will be resuming school this session because she cannot afford their school fees and other basic needs.

“I am in pain, I am in debt. I don’t know how to cope. The council has not functioned since February. This is wickedness on the part of the government,” she lamented.

At Ilobu, Ibrahim Muyideen, a Muslim cleric, stressed the  toll of the closure.

“It is affecting us badly. Most times, you have something to do at the council secretariat but cannot because the offices are closed. Workers are just idling away at home. Everything is dull. We are not happy at all,” he lamented, urging the federal government to “show mercy on us they are governing.”

For some, like Aminu Semiu in Ede South, the pain is economic. As a trader, he explained how the absence of council workers has hit his pocket.

“Sometimes, they buy through their different cooperatives and since they are not working, we that were benefiting before are no more doing so. I am personally affected because I do business around them. The times are hard due to the frozen funds,” he noted.

Muftau Lawal of Olorunda, likened the crisis to ordinary people being trampled in a battle of giants.

“Local governments are the closest to the people. When people need drainage or roads, we go to them, but now none of them is working. The permits they issue to traders are also affected, and that is the cause of the high cost of items everywhere.

“If two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that suffers. We are the grass suffering. We beg them, whatever is between them, they should resolve it for the sake of the masses,” he pleaded.

Across all voices, the themes are clear: citizens want functioning councils, access to basic services, and a stop to what they see as a needless political war. They all agreed that the longer the funds remain frozen and the councils are idle, the more they feel abandoned in their own communities.

We are not partisan, our safety and security paramount – NULGE

Since the crisis began, local government workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) have stayed at home, far away from the LG secretariats where they earn their living.

Speaking to The ICIR in his office at the NULGE Secretariat in Osogbo on behalf of the workers, the Osun State NULGE President, Nathaniel Kehinde Ogungbangbe, said their absence from the secretariats across the state is based on security and safety issues and not political.

Ogungbangbe insisted that their decision to stay at home is driven purely by safety concerns and not politics.

According to him, the union had to act after tensions erupted between rival political camps seeking to take over local government councils.

He recalled that on February 16, NULGE directed its members to stay away from council offices to avoid being caught in political crossfire. His fears, he said, were confirmed the very next day when a violent clash between rival groups left six people dead, including a party chieftain.

“Imagine if my members were on duty, what would have happened? I would not begin to count scores,” he said.

Not a strike, but self-preservation

The NULGE president rejected suggestions that the workers were on strike. “If we say strike, that means we have a problem with our employer. Presently, our employer is the governor of the state, and we don’t have any problem with him. This one, we are afraid of our lives. I cannot endanger the lives of my members,” he explained.

Ogungbangbe said the union would only resume normal duties when there is clarity on who the legitimate political heads of the councils are.

“Our concern is safety. Until we know the authentic or the legal political head of the local government, we will remain at home,” he said, adding that the matter is for the courts to resolve.

The NULGE boss, flanked by some of his excos, also dismissed accusations that the union was taking sides with the ruling PDP.

“That is where they are missing it. Majority of them don’t understand what unionism is about. My duty is to protect my members, not politicians. Politicians did not put me here; it is my members,” he stated.

He underscored that NULGE members are career civil servants and not political appointees.

“As civil servants, we serve any government in power. Which government is in power today? It is PDP. When APC was there, we supported them. We are not supporting any party. Our concern is the safety of our members,” he clarified.

He appealed to members across the state for patience and understanding.

“Whatever the union is doing is for their own good. Death is an irreversible reaction. It is only when you are alive that you can work, collect salary, or enjoy benefits,” he said.

On critics who accuse local government workers of “collecting salary without working,” he maintained that the safety-first stance was legitimate and backed by the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

 Adeleke accused of blocking LG staff from going to the office, defying court orders

The chairman of Ede North Local Government (APC), Elliot Adeyemi, accused Governor Adeleke of deliberately preventing local government workers from resuming duties despite a Court of Appeal judgment reinstating them (APC) as chairmen.

Speaking in his office in Ede, Adeyemi claimed that the governor’s directive has crippled grassroots governance across the state.

The APC chieftain said that since February 10, 2025, when the Court of Appeal returned them as the authentic chairmen, the governor has insisted that local government staff must not resume work.

“He is still paying them salaries, but they are not allowed to discharge their duties,” Adeyemi said.

He argued that the refusal to comply with the appellate court ruling has robbed communities of vital services such as education, civil registration, and community development.

“Students seeking school documents have been denied. Couples wanting to register their marriages have been denied. Traditional rulers who depend on statutory allocations have been denied their entitlements. This crisis has paralised development not only in Ede North but across the state,” he stressed.

Adeyemi, who insists his tenure legally began in February following the judgment, accused Adeleke of double standard.

“The governor himself is a product of the courts. It was the same court that validated his election. But when the same judiciary reinstated us, he refused to comply. That is disobedience to the rule of law,” he said.

The chairman also stated that despite the legal recognition of APC chairmen, they have yet to access statutory allocations from the Federation Account.

He said he believes that the federal government will act because the APC chairmen are recognised by law.

“Even the Attorney General and the CBN know the judgment is in our favour. It is only a matter of time before the funds are released,” Adeyemi boasted.

For now, Adeyemi explained that his administration is surviving on internally generated revenue (IGR) to handle pressing community needs.

Grassroots in crisis, FG bias, says Osun governor’s aide

The Special Adviser (SA) to the Osun State Governor on Legal Matters, Nurudeen Kareem, in an interview accused the Federal Government of plunging local governance into chaos by unlawfully withholding allocations meant for local governments in the state since February 2025.

Kareem described the impact as devastating, stressing that critical grassroots services have collapsed.

“Governance at the local level has been crippled since February when the federal government withheld allocations.

“Primary school teachers, health workers and even traditional rulers depend on these funds. Today, billions of naira are lying fallow at the Central Bank while our people suffer,” he said.

Kareem, a lawyer, traced the crisis to the controversial local government elections hurriedly conducted by the APC-led administration of former Governor Oyetola in 2022. He explained that the polls violated the Electoral Act, which requires at least 360 days’ notice before such elections.

“Oyetola’s government gave just two months’ notice. Both PDP and APP challenged the illegality in court and by November 2022, two separate judgments nullified the elections and sacked the APC chairmen and councillors,” Kareem noted.

The SA revealed that the Osun State Government had filed suits at the Supreme Court demanding that funds be released directly to the elected PDP chairmen in line with last year’s Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy.

“The NBA itself is not a wing of PDP, but it has said the Federal Government is setting a dangerous precedent. If this continues, any administration could decide to punish opposition states by withholding allocations,” he warned.

Kareem further alleged that the APC’s forceful occupation of local councils with police support earlier this year led to violence that claimed lives. He said to avert further bloodshed, Governor Adeleke appealed to the elected PDP chairmen to stay away temporarily.

He insisted that the matter is no longer about politics but about law, governance and survival at the grassroots.

He blamed the Attorney General of the Federation, who he claimed should uphold court judgments but chose to disregard them.

“Meanwhile, our people, including teachers, health workers and traditional rulers, are bearing the brunt,” he lamented.

Osun LG funds safe with us — OAGF

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), in an interview, has clarified that the statutory allocations meant for local governments in the state remain in its custody and have not been disbursed to any party.

The spokesperson, Bala Mokwa, explained that the funds are being withheld due to a pending court case over the matter.

He dismissed claims that the allocations had been diverted, noting that the money is domiciled in the appropriate office and will be released once the legal process is concluded.

According to Mokwa, “the fund has not been released to anyone… it will be released as soon as the court clears the air.”

NBA demands release of Osun LG funds

In its intervention on the matter, the Nigeria Bar Assoc9atin, NBA, urged the FG to release statutory allocations owed to LGAs in Osun State, describing the prolonged withholding of funds as a violation of constitutional provisions and a blow to judicial authority.

The NBA, in a letter to the AGF and Minister of Justice, Fagbemi, urged the central government to respect the rule of law and refrain from setting what it termed a “dangerous precedent” that weakens confidence in democratic institutions.

The association insisted that, “the continued withholding of the funds is unconstitutional, illegal, and a dangerous affront to judicial pronouncements.”

In the letter jointly signed by its President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, respectively, voiced concern over unrefuted reports that allocations from the Federation Account meant for Osun councils have been withheld since February 2025 and stressed that the funds were crucial to the effective administration of the grassroots.

AGF’s office declined comment

When contacted, the AGF’s spokesperson, Kamar Ogundele, Asaid he could not comment on a case already before the courts.

He told The ICIR that it would be inappropriate to speak on the issue while litigation is ongoing. “I will not like to talk about it because the matter is in court. You, as a journalist, know that when a matter is in court we don’t discuss it,” he said.

Ogundele confirmed that the dispute has escalated to the Supreme Court, and both parties involved have filed complaints.

“We are talking about a legal matter here… as the other side is complaining, the other side too is complaining. So let’s wait for the court,” he added.

He maintained that further clarifications on the Osun funds will only be possible after the court delivers its judgment.