In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing Osun State local government crisis, the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has issued a stern warning to the Attorney-General of the Federation(AGF) Lateef Fagbemi; Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Yemi Cardoso; and Auditor-General Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, accusing them of allegedly plotting to preempt a pending Supreme Court ruling.
This is as the union claimed the Federal Government officials are allegedly processing the release of withheld local government allocations to All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors, who they claimed have been ousted from office by the court.
NULGE, in a September 7 statement by its Osun State chapter president, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, claimed officials in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) worked overtime at the weekend to process mandates for eight months’ arrears into “private or fraudulent accounts controlled by sacked APC chieftains.”
The statement reads in part: “Nigerians are well aware of the lingering crisis that has plagued local government administration in Osun State since February this year, following the seizure of local government funds by the Federal Government. This matter is currently before the Supreme Court for adjudication.
“We have, however, received credible information that officials of the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, OAGF, have been instructed to prepare mandates to release Osun State local government allocations covering over eight months into accounts that do not belong to our local governments. Disturbingly, these accounts belong to chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who have been removed by the court as chairmen and councillors.
“We competently gathered that the Director, Federation Account, and Director, Funds (names withheld) in the OAGF’s office, under the directive of the Accountant General of the Federation, worked late into Friday night and through Saturday, processing papers and figures to facilitate this illegal diversion. These desperate moves are a clear attempt to preempt the decision of the Supreme Court.
“We, therefore, issue a strong warning to the Accountant-General of the Federation, his officials; the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and its officials: do not obey illegal directives. Criminal acts have no statute of limitations. Any payment of Osun State local government funds into private or fraudulent accounts will amount to gross misappropriation. By law, only Directors of Administration and Directors of Finance are authorized signatories to local government accounts. However, the law is that the persons occupying the positions of these authorized signatories must be authenticated in writing by the Auditor General for the Local Governments of the State to ensure compliance with the law and avoid payment to impostors. Therefore, any impostors whose names may have been smuggled into CBN records are acting in clear violation of the law. We remind the CBN to steer clear of partisan politics and uphold its constitutional mandate.
“We are not politicians and are not involved in the politics that are involved here. However, as a union, it is our duty and obligation to protect our jobs and stand by our members whose positions are being usurped by impostor politicians.
“It is curious and deeply troubling that the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the CBN have singled out Osun State for this punitive treatment while local governments in the other 35 states continue to receive their allocations through accounts as provided for in the 1999 Constitution.”
The New Diplomat reports that the ongoing crisis goes back to the October 2022 local government elections conducted under the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, an APC stalwart now serving as Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
The polls, boycotted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were won by all 30 council positions for APC candidates.
However, shortly after PDP’s Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State assumed office in November 2022, a Federal High Court in Osogbo nullified the elections in two separate suits filed by the PDP and the Action Peoples Party (APP).
The officials were consequently sacked, and their tenure deemed invalid due to procedural flaws under the Electoral Act 2022.
Adeleke then proceeded with fresh elections on February 22, 2025, where PDP candidates won all seats unopposed after the APC boycotted, citing no vacancies.
The new PDP chairmen were sworn in but barred from assuming physical control of secretariats to avert violence.
The New Diplomat’s checks revealed that the councils secretariats have remained shut for over seven months.
The standoff intensified when federal allocations to Osun’s councils, reportedly totaling over ₦46.9 billion since February, were allegedly frozen.
