Politics
Court order allegation: Osun govt replies APC, says party jittery over illegal occupation of LGAs
Osun State government has described the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state as false alarmist, saying, they are been afraid of imminent backlash over its illegal occupation of local government secretariats and has embarked on an open blackmail of the judiciary.
The APC had claimed that it unveiled Governor Ademola Adeleke’s government’s fresh plot to procure a judgement from the State High Court, Ikirun that will create a platform to launch another round of a massive attack on the local government chairmen and councillors elected on its platform who are currently in charge of the council secretariats and subject the state to another round of anarchy.
Addressing a press conference at the Ilerioluwa Campaign Office, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo on Sunday, the APC, through a former state Commissioner for Information, Hon Sunday Akere, claimed that the state government has concluded an arrangement to procure the ‘kangaroo judgment’ from the court to be presided over by one Justice I. O. Adeleke of Ikirun on the 17th of April, 2025, with a view to perverting the cause of justice and bringing the sponsored Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) selected chairmen and hoodlums to the councils through the backdoor.
The party noted that it reliably gathered that it is the purchased order of mandamus from the pliable High Court judge in Ikirun which Governor Adeleke is banking on to bring the illegally-selected chairmen of the PDP to the council with the aid of Amotekun Corps and thugs by all means without reflecting on the consequences of his action to security of lives and property.
The APC then reaffirmed its commitment to resist any illegal means capable of causing political unrest and undermining the security and sanctity of the judiciary in the state saying: “Adeleke’s executive recklessness, security compromise, abuse of power and judicial integrity will be resisted without apology.”
This opposition party in the state also sought immediate intervention of the Inspector General of Police, Director-General, Department of State Services -DSS and Office of the National Security Adviser over the looming crisis in the state.
The party lampooned Adeleke for resorting to a self help instead of threading the path of the rule of law and compliance to judicial authority by obeying the judgment of the Court of Appeal or at most approach the Supreme Court, saying his fresh move was capable of subjecting the state to anarchy and threat to the lives of innocent citizens.
The party accused Adeleke’s government of grounding the local government activities by financially inducing the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to illegally withdraw the services of the state local government workers at the Local Government Secretariats which has invariably denied the people of the state essential services being provided by the local government councils in all the 30 local government council areas and the Area Office, Modakeke in the last two months.
According to the APC, the planned Order of Mandamus filed against Governor Adeleke for the High Court to prevent the governor from locking the illegal and sit-at-home PDP Chairmen and Councillors out of council and be aided by Amotekun Corps and daredevil thugs to invade all the local government council areas in the state which would resort to a breakdown of law and order.
“It is on that 17th day of April, 2025 procured kangaroo ruling that the council workers who have abandoned their jobs for over two months intend to go back to work.
“The procured judgement is, among others, to violently chase away the reinstated local government chairmen out of the local government council areas against the judgment of the Appeal Court by contemporaneously enlisting the services of Amotekun Corps to violently attack and chase away our elected chairmen from the local government secretariats across the state.
“The procured judgement from the pliable High Court judge in Ikirun will also direct the Chairmen and Councillors who participated in the illegal local government election purportedly conducted by the partisan Abioye Hasim-led Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) on February 22, 2025 in the state to resume work with the primary intention of unleashing terror on our local government chairmen and councillors who have resumed duty in their various local government council areas”, the APC stated.
The party noted that another case is also before one Justice Yinka Aderibigbe of a state High Court sitting in Ilesa designed for similar motive to create pandemonium in the state.
“Information also has it that there are plans to massively mobilize thugs within and outside the state to be armed and cloth in Amotekun Corps uniform in order to carry out orchestrated attacks on our chairmen and burn down local government secretariats and deceitfully hang the crimes on the neck of the Court of Appeal reinstated local government chairmen and councillors in the state.
“It would be recalled that it was the same manner that the PDP obtained a fraudulent judgment to illegally conduct purported elections to the local government offices that were not vacant on February 22, 2025 from Ilesa High Court. The state government and the PDP instead of approaching the Supreme Court to appeal the 10th February, 2025 Court of Appeal judgement for further appeal at the Supreme Court have strangely resorted to forum shopping from various high courts”, APC averred.
The opposition party called on Osun State judiciary to be wary of the PDP desperation not to drag the judiciary into the mud through procurement of black market judgment and injunctions from the state high courts capable of rocking the peace of the state.
The APC added: “It is a clear principle in elementary law that a lower court can not assume jurisdiction on a matter already settled by the higher court especially the Appellate Court in this circumstance.
“This attempt is an effort to create constitutional crisis and subsequently throw the state into avoidable crisis. If the PDP and the Adeleke-led administration considered the Appeal Court judgment unacceptable, they are free to approach the Supreme Court as the last resort instead of laying a foundation for creating crisis in the state.
“The joker the Governor Adeleke-led government is banking on is to engage in a judicial coup by procuring mandamus order for the illegal local government council chairmen and councillors from the pliable High Court judge in Ikirun on the 17th day of April, 2025.
“The illegal local council chairmen and councillors who have been staying off the councils would seek the mandamus order from the High Court against Governor Adeleke who subsequently would not object but rather prevail on the already stationed Amotekun Corps with daredevil thugs to invade the council Secretariats across the state with maximum force.
“In the arrangement made by Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers, it is the illegally-elected council chairmen and councillors whom the council workers who have been staying off the council Secretariats would accompany to the various councils which would lead to pandemonium and chaos across the state.
“The previous similar judgement has forced our party to petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) on the judicial rascality being encouraged by the Governor Adeleke-led administration and we shall not hesitate to lodge another complaint whenever we notice any form of judicial abuse and compromise over the local government administration in Osun State as it is axiomatic that the judiciary is the last hope of a common man and if it is allowed to be consistently abused as it is being currently encouraged by the Osun State government under Governor Adeleke, then our democracy is in a serious danger”, the Osun APC had stated.
Osun Govt reacts
However, in a statement on Sunday by the spokesperson to the governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the Adeleke administration said the state APC is lying about an open secret that it faces three lawsuits over its invasion of the local government secretariats namely; the first by the duly elected local government chairmen and councillors of PDP under ALGON, the second by the state local government workers under NULGE and the third by the All Peoples Party (APP) which sued the APC for contempt of Court for ignoring a subsisting court judgement that sacked its Yes/No chairmen.
He said, In all these cases, Governor Ademola Adeleke did not and has no intention of instituting any court action after his directive to PDP elected chairmen and councilors to abide by the rule of law and avoid violence.
“The APC alarm of plots to deploy violence against the illegal court-sacked Yes/No chairmen is mere fantasy and failed attempt to escape the legal consequences of their unconstitutional and reprehensible occupation of local governments secretariats across Osun state”
“It would be recalled that direct stakeholders in the current face off took legal actions to eject usurpers and anti-democratic elements from local government secretariats across the state”
“The validly elected council chairmen, vice Chairmen and councillors filed very potent lawsuits to flush out Yes/No council chairmen who are on a campaign of self help rather than rule of law”
“The workers union at the local government level, NULGE, as an interested stakeholder has also resorted to the judicial system”
The specific reliefs were sought from the courts by both NULGE and the legally elected council chiefs as follows:
WHAT PDP ELECTED COUNCIL CHIEFS SEEKS FROM THE COURT
1. A DECLARATION that the 1st – 8th Defendants, having been removed from office as Chairmen and Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State by a subsisting and extant Judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on the 30th day of November, 2022, and a fresh election having been duly and lawfully conducted on the 22nd day of February, 2025, pursuant to the subsisting Order of the Osun State High Court in Suit No: HIL/M.19/2025 which led to the conduct of elections and the emergence of the Claimants as Chairmen and Councilors of the Local Government in Osun State, cannot impede, interfere, and/or obstruct, in any way whatsoever, the Claimants in their assumption of office.
2. A DECLARATION that the 9th – 12th Defendants being persons and authorities bound to give effect to every decision of this Honourable Court and of all superior courts of record in Nigeria by virtue of Section 287 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), have the constitutional duty to ensure that all persons and authorities, including the 1st – 8th defendants, their allies, privies, agents, or any person acting through them or in their stead, or with their support, do not interfere, disturb or cause obstruction to the assumption of office by the Claimants into their respective offices as Chairmen and Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State; more particularly having regard to the said Judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria delivered on 30th November, 2022 in Suit No: FHC/OS/CS/103/2022
3. A DECLARATION that in view of the election of the 22nd day of February, 2025, conducted pursuant to the provisions of sections 28, 29, 30 and 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the decision of the Osun State High Court in Suit No: HIL/M.19/2025, PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY V. OSUN STATE INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION and the Federal High Court in FHC/OS/CS/103/2022, ACTION PEOPLES PARTY V. INEC & 6 ORS and the dismissal of the Appeal against the said Judgment in Appeal No: CA/AK/226M/24, ALLIED PEOPLES MOVEMENT & ORS V. ACTION PEOPLES PARTY & ORS on 13th January, 2025, and subsequent swearing in of the Claimants on the 23rd of February, 2025, the Claimants are the legal occupants of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State as Chairmen and Councilors.
4. A DECLARATION that it amounts to a derogation of the right to freedom of movement of the Claimants for the 9th – 12th Defendants to forcefully prevent and obstruct them vi et armis, from accessing and occupying offices they were voted into as Chairmen and Councilors of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State in the election that took place on the 22nd of February, 2025.
5.AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st – 8th Defendants from assuming and/or taking any step(s) whatsoever towards assuming office as Chairmen and/or Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State from which position they were sacked by a valid and subsisting order of the Federal High Court in Suit No: FHC/OS/CS/103/2022.
6. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st – 8th Defendants from parading or further parading themselves as Chairmen and Councilors of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State.
7. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 9th – 12th Defendants, whether by themselves or through their officers and men, servants, agents, allies, privies, or howsoever, from assisting, aiding or taking any step(s) whatsoever in assisting, aiding or helping the 1st – 8th Defendants to assume office as Chairmen and/or Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State.
8. AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT directing the 9th – 12th Defendants, whether by themselves or through their officers and men, servants, agents, allies, privies, or howsoever to ensure that the Claimants assume their respective offices at their various Local Government Headquarters in Osun State as Chairmen and Councilors of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State without any interference, let or hindrance from any quarters whatsoever, be it from the 1st – 8th Defendants or from their allies, privies, agents, or anybody acting through them or in their stead.
WHAT NULGE SEEKS FROM THE COURT
A DECLARATION OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT that the 1st – 9th Defendants, having been removed from office as Chairmen and Councilors of theLocal Government Councils in Osun State by a subsisting Judgment of the FederalHigh Court delivered on the 30th day of November, 2022 cannot in any way whatsoever, impose themselves as Chairmen and Councilors of the 30 Local government Councils and interfere with the running and operations of all the said 30Local Government Councils of Osun State unless and until the said Judgment is set aside by a higher court.
2. A DECLARATION OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT that the 10th and 11th Defendants being persons and authorities bound to give effect to every decision of this Honourable Court and of all superior courts of record in Nigeria by virtue of Section287 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and whose duty is to ensure the sustenance of peace in Osun State, have the Constitutional Duty to ensure that all persons and authorities, including the 1st – 9th Defendants, their allies privies, agents, or anybody acting through them or in their stead, do not interfere or cause any interference with running and operations of all the 30 Local Government Council of Osun State and/or to make attempt and/or to continue to present themselves as Chairmen and Councillors of all the Local Government in Osun State and/or any the said Local Government in Osun State of Nigeria except if the said Judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No FHC/OS/CS/103/2022 delivered on 30th November,2022 is set aside by a higher Court.
3. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st – 9th Defendants from assuming and/or taking any step whatsoever towards assuming office as Chairman and/or Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State and interfering in any way whatsoever, with the running and operations of all the 30 Local Government council of Osun State.
4. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st – 9th Defendants from parading or further parading themselves as Chairmen and Councilors of the 30 Local Government Councils in Osun State.
5. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 10th and 11th Defendants, as well as their men and officers, from assisting, aiding or taking any step whatsoever in helping the 1st – 9th Defendants to assume office as Chairmen and/or Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State and interfering with the running and operations of all the 30 Local Government Councils of Osun State.
6. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 10th and 11th defendants, as well as their men and officers or any other person acting under or through them, from harassing, threatening arrest and/or arresting members of theClaimant’s union, in a bid to assisting and aiding the 2nd – 9th Defendants to assume office as Chairman and/or Councilors of the Local Government Councils in Osun State And interfering with the running and operations of all the 30 Local Government councils of Osun State.
We called on the state APC to face its legal battle and leave the state governor out of its self-imposed and self-inflicted moral, legal and political injuries.