NULGE accuses AGF of plot to divert Osun LG funds

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Osun State chapter, has accused the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, of attempting to divert local government allocations in the state for the benefit of All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors.

Speaking to journalists in Osogbo on Monday, the state president of NULGE, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, alleged that moves were being made to secure a vacation hearing in Abuja on the matter, despite court judgments upholding the removal of the APC officials.

He recalled that on May 12, 2025, the Osun State Government filed a case at the Federal High Court to protect the funds for the people’s benefit. The court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo, but attempts were allegedly made to open accounts for the sacked officials to illegally divert allocations.

Ogungbangbe said it took public outcry and a ruling of the Court of Appeal on June 13, 2025, to stop the move. He described the AGF’s recent application for an urgent vacation hearing in Abuja as “a plot to achieve through the backdoor what the Appeal Court had already denied.”

“Now months later, the Office of the Chief Law Officer of the Federation has suddenly woken up, crying ‘urgency’ and demanding that this matter be rushed and heard in Abuja during the court vacation. We ask: Why the rush? Why Abuja? Why now? This so-called urgency is nothing but self-created urgency,” he said.

The NULGE president stressed that the funds belong to the grassroots and must be protected for the people’s benefit, warning that any attempt to subvert the court process would be resisted through all lawful means.

He clarified that the union was not interested in who controls the councils but only in ensuring that due process is followed in accessing local government funds. “That is what we are interested in,” he maintained.

Also speaking, the Osun State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Christopher Arapasopo, said organised labour would not compromise on the safety and welfare of its members. He urged the AGF to respect the law and called on the Federal Government to act in the best interest of the people.