The Osun State Government has formally responded to statements by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) concerning the status of local government allocations, stating that there is no legal basis for the continued withholding of the funds.
In a statement issued by Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Spokesperson to the State Governor, the government reaffirmed that the Court of Appeal judgement of June 13, 2025, had upheld the sacking of APC council chairmen and validated the outcome of the February 22, 2025 local government elections.
“The June 13 judgment of the Court of Appeal sustained the sacking of the APC council chairmen and expressly validated the February 22, 2025 local governments election held across Osun,” the statement said.
The spokesperson further clarified that the former chairmen and councillors produced by the October 15, 2022 elections had been removed by earlier court decisions, and that these rulings remain valid and binding. He challenged the Osun APC to indicate any portion of the February 10, 2025 Appeal Court judgment that ordered their reinstatement.
🏛️ No Legal Obstacle to Allocation Release
According to the statement, there is no judicial ruling halting the disbursement of local government allocations to Osun State. The government insists that the duly elected leadership from the February 22, 2025 elections are the legitimate signatories to operate local government accounts in compliance with applicable laws.
“There is still no ground to withhold the state’s local government allocations,” the statement emphasized.
The spokesperson explained that the federal decision to withhold the funds was not backed by a directive from the Presidency. He claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu only became aware of the situation after seeing news headlines during the recent Eid (Ileya) holidays, and called on the President to intervene.
“The Attorney-General of the Federation instructed the Accountant-General of the Federation to withhold the funds without presidential approval,” he said.
“We, therefore, appeal to Mr. President to intervene and order the release of Osun local government allocations.”
🗳️ Political Context and Court Rulings
The statement recapped a timeline of legal proceedings, noting that multiple court judgments—including the most recent from the Court of Appeal on June 13, 2025—recognized the February 2025 election results and upheld the disqualification of chairmen elected in October 2022.
Osun State Government maintains that there is no existing legal or political justification for withholding the funds and called on the Osun APC to support the release of the allocation to the current local government leadership.
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