The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of abusing the court process in his handling of the local government crisis. In a statement issued on Thursday by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the party alleged that Governor Adeleke is disregarding the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which reinstated the elected APC local government chairmen and councillors on February 10, 2025.
The APC claimed that Governor Adeleke is behind the lawsuits filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) local government officials, who were elected during the February 22 local government elections. The party also criticized the Osun State chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for involving itself in what it described as a partisan political matter.
The APC accused NULGE of aligning with the allegedly illegally elected PDP council officials, whose legitimacy was nullified by the Court of Appeal’s judgment. The party stated that the union’s actions are morally and legally offensive, as they support officials not recognized by law.
DAILY MENTOR recalls that the PDP-elected local council officials recently approached an Osun State High Court in Ikirun to resolve the ongoing crisis caused by the occupation of council secretariats by APC officials elected during the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in 2022. Additionally, NULGE filed a lawsuit in the Osun State High Court in Ilesa, seeking to address the forceful invasion and occupation of local government secretariats by the APC officials.
In its statement, the Osun APC condemned Governor Adeleke’s actions, describing them as an attempt to undermine the Court of Appeal’s judgment through lower courts.
“If Governor Adeleke and his cohorts think that they can thwart the judgment of a superior court by a lower court through the back door, they will still remain perpetual jokers of the century,” the statement read.
The APC further accused Governor Adeleke of shopping for a “compromising judicial officer” to reintroduce a case already adjudicated by the Court of Appeal, labeling it a “classic example of an abuse of court process.”
The party asserted that the litigations are “dead on arrival” and are merely designed to waste the court’s time and disrupt the smooth running of local government administration by the reinstated APC officials.
“The reinstated local government chairmen and councillors have come to stay, and the earlier Governor Adeleke learns how to co-govern with them, the better it would be for him, as they were elected the same way the governor was elected,” the statement concluded.
DAILY MENTOR reports that the ongoing local government crisis in Osun State highlights the deepening political tensions between the APC and PDP, with both parties locked in a legal battle over the legitimacy of local council officials. The situation remains unresolved as the courts continue to adjudicate on the matter.