Tension in Osun as PDP LG chairmen move to reclaim councils

Chairmen and councilors elected in the February 22, 2025 Osun local government election on Friday resumed duties in some council secretariats across the state, a development that triggered tension in parts of the state.

The Deputy Spokesperson to the Osun State Governor, Oladele Bamiji, said the resumption followed a judgment of the Federal High Court, which, according to him, affirmed the tenure of the current local government chairmen in the state.

Bamiji said PDP chairmen resumed in Ede North, Ede South, Iwo, Boripe and Ila local government areas.

At the entrance of the Olorunda Local Government Secretariat in Igbona, Osogbo, there was a shouting match between police operatives and PDP officials who attempted to gain access to the premises.

The gate to the secretariat was eventually locked against the PDP officials.

Security operatives, deployed in large numbers to the area, later engaged the PDP officials in discussions before they vacated the premises.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Friday on behalf of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, comprising chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, Adegoke Ogunsola accused the PDP chairmen of attempting a forceful takeover of council secretariats.

Ogunsola said the APC chairmen had filed an application for a stay of execution of the judgment and that the process had been duly served on the respondents.

However, Bamiji insisted that the PDP chairmen remain the legally recognised local government administrators in the state.

“They (PDP) are the legal chairmen, and they ought to be in the local government anyway, but for the backing of the immediate past Inspector General of Police and the abnormal situation we have in Osun State with the commissioner of police, APC has no business in the council.

“PDP chairmen returned to the council areas in Ede North, Ede South, Ifelodun, Ila, Iwo, Boripe and a few others. The PDP local government chairman remains the legally elected local government administrators in Osun State.

“Going by the last judgment by the Federal High Court in Osogbo, it becomes basically normal that those local government chairmen elected on the platform of the PDP will resume their duty to serve the people who elected them into office,” Bamiji said.

Commenting on the tension generated by the resumption, Bamiji said there was minimal resistance.

“To the best of my knowledge, there was not much resistance against our people resuming at the local government level.

“You know, aside from the High Court, there is this natural justice of conscience whereby the APC themselves know that they are only grandstanding over nothing. So there couldn’t have been any more violence because the APC on their side have no basis for any arguments.

“Our people, the PDP elected chairmen, will resume fully next Monday by the grace of God, and they will all be there to perform their duty for which they were elected. The PDP will not be obeying the law if the chairman refuses to resume work as ordered by the Federal High Court,” he added.

But Ogunsola maintained that the APC chairmen and councilors had already filed a motion for stay of execution before the Federal High Court in Osogbo in September 2025, seeking clarification on the commencement of their tenure.

He further argued that the PDP chairmen and councillors were not parties to the dismissed suit, insisting that there was no court order granting them relief.

He alleged that police authorities had been served with a motion for stay of execution and had cautioned that enforcement actions could lead to a breakdown of law and order.

Ogunsola also criticised the state government’s interpretation of the judgment, saying there was no order of court authorising any takeover of council secretariats.

“The police that they wanted to use to enforce the wrong judgment is party to the suit and is now aware of the appeal filed by the APC chairmen and councillors. The police have also been served with the motion for stay of execution and that is why the police have been reportedly said to have warned that the actions being urged by the counsel to PDP/Accord counsel would only lead to breakdown of law and order.

“It is against the foregoing that members of the public are advised to go about their lawful businesses and shun the misinformation being spread around by the state government over the tenor of the judgment as there is no order directing the thugs who claim to be chairmen and councilors to storm the councils,” he said.

He further argued that one of the key issues before the court concerns whether the February 2025 local government elections were valid, given the subsisting tenure of the previous officeholders.

“This and other issues are already placed before the Court of Appeal and it is incumbent upon a government to respect the rule of law by awaiting the outcome of those recondite issues,” he added.

The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo had earlier dismissed a suit filed by APC chairmen elected in the October 15, 2022 local government elections seeking clarification on the end of their tenure.