Osun LG crisis: APC, PDP dead ends suffocate the grassroot
The battle for the control of local councils in Osun State is taking its toll on service delivery at the grassroots, writes Deborah Oladejo in Osogbo.
When elephants fight, the grass suffers. In Osun, people at the grassroots are suffering the effects of the power tussle between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over local council administration.
WESTERN POST reports that eight weeks after the controversial takeover of local government secretariats by the reinstated APC chairmen and councillors, local government administration has collapsed with essential services in disarray amid heightened tensions and concerns over the socio-economic impact of the lingering crisis.
The local council secretariats, once bustling centres of civic activity are now ghost offices as council staff remain at home, amid a political tug-of-war and concern for their safety.
Routine administrative functions such as the issuance of certificates of origin, birth and death registrations, and marriage documentation have grounded to a halt.
Besides the inconvenience to the public, the impasse has triggered a financial setback for the state. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), typically sourced from local government levies and service charges, has dwindled significantly. Recent reports of unauthorised collections and forgery have further compounded the crisis.
The origin of the crisis
Recall that following his inauguration in late 2022, Governor Ademola Adeleke dissolved all APC-led local government councils, appointing PDP loyalists into caretaker committees to replace them. The opposition APC rejected the action, arguing that the tenure of the sacked officials had not expired.
In the legal battles that followed, a disputed Court of Appeal ruling in February 2025 prompted the APC chairmen and councillors to stage a return to office. However, the Adeleke-led government refused to recognise the APC officials and conducted fresh elections into the local councils.
New twist
Governor Adeleke has asked the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Abba, to clamp down on illegal tax collection and forgery of council documents allegedly by some of the APC chairmen. A statement signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, described their actions as a threat to law and order at the grassroots.
The governor accused some APC chairmen of setting up an unauthorised revenue task force that prints fake documents for internally generated revenue (IGR), including local government ID letters and market receipts.
He expressed concern over the hardship such illegal collections have imposed on residents, describing it as a deliberate attempt to exploit the people.
“Is this the reason for the illegal occupation of local government secretariats? Is this all about extorting the people and imposing pain and suffering on them? This should stop forthwith,” Adeleke said.
But the APC insists its chairmen and councillors possess legitimacy. The party’s director of media and information, Kola Olabisi, said, “It is unfortunate that Governor Adeleke and his cohorts have refused to come to terms with the fact that in the eyes of the law today, the reinstated APC executive chairmen and councillors are legally in charge of the administration of the local government across the state under which effective supervision of all the markets falls.
“By virtue of the Court of Appeal judgement of the 10th of February, 2025, the said chairmen and councillors cannot be said to be performing illegal duties by superintending the markets which fall within the purview of their schedule as allowed by the Constitution.”
With both parties locked in a do-or-die claim to the local councils, there is no end in sight to the crisis and no respite for the people from the politically-imposed suffering.
