Osun PDP, NULGE sue APC chairmen, councillors over council leadership dispute
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
The elected chairmen and councillors of the Osun Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), alongside the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), have taken the purportedly reinstated All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors to court over control of the local government secretariats.
In a suit numbered HIL/M.26/25, filed before a State High Court sitting in Ilesa, the PDP chairmen are seeking an order directing the APC chairmen to vacate the local government secretariats.
Joined in the suit are the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Sharafadeen Awotunde, Rotimi Adeyenuwo, and others, on behalf of the newly elected PDP chairmen, have asked the court to restrain the defendants from obstructing them from assuming office. They also requested an order preventing security operatives from aiding the reinstated council chairmen in taking over the councils.
Similarly, NULGE has filed a separate suit before the Osun State High Court sitting in Ikirun, seeking to prevent the APC-backed chairmen and councillors from resuming office or interfering in the operations of the 30 local government councils in the state.
The suit, numbered HIR/5/2025, also seeks an order restraining the defendants and their associates from harassing or arresting NULGE members in their bid to assume office.
In its originating summons, dated February 28, 2025, NULGE is asking the court to affirm that the Federal High Court’s judgment of November 30, 2022, which removed the elected APC chairmen and councillors from office, remains valid.
The union further urged the court to declare that until a higher court overturns the ruling, the APC chairmen and councillors should not impose themselves as local government leaders or interfere with local government operations.
