Osun LG Withheld Funds: Muslim Group Petitions Presidency, League of Imams and Alfas

An Islamic pressure group, Concerned Muslim Brothers (CMB), has petitioned the Presidency and the League of Imams and Alfas over the continued withholding of local government funds in Osun State, allegedly orchestrated by the Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola.

The group, in separate protest letters signed by its State Coordinator, Ustaz Jamiu Akorede Ajenisua, described the alleged actions of the two ministers as “anti-Allah” and “anti-people,” warning against what it called the oppression, repression, and victimisation of Osun residents, many of whom, it noted, are Muslims.

According to the CMB, the matter was reported to prominent Islamic leaders, including the Chief Imam of Ado-Ekiti (Chairman, League of Imams and Alfas, South West), the Chief Imam of Ilorin, the Chief Imam of Offa, the Chief Imam of Osogbo, the Grand Mufti of Ilorin, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), the Deputy President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Sharia, Sheikh Isa Akindele, Sheikh Daud Molaasan, and the Emir of Ilorin, among others. The group urged the religious leaders to intervene urgently.

In the petition, the group claimed that allocations due to Osun’s local government councils had been stopped since February 2025 by the Federal Government. It alleged that Oyetola, a former Osun governor, and Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, were behind the move, which it described as “deliberate” and aimed at punishing the people of the state.

The CMB said the withheld funds were meant for primary school teachers, local government pensioners, community health facilities, traditional rulers, and other grassroots needs. It insisted that such actions were contrary to Islamic teachings of fairness, justice, and submission to Allah.

“The role being played by Alhaji Oyetola and Hon. Fagbemi with respect to Osun local government funds is against the practice of a believer, a conscientious Muslim who is truly conscious that one day he will stand before Almighty Allah to give account for all his deeds,” the letter read in part.

The group reminded the ministers that “it is Allah who gives power to whoever He wills,” warning that maltreating others and denying them their entitlements is an act of wickedness condemned by God.

It called on the Islamic leaders to use their influence to counsel the two ministers to “fear Allah and do what is right,” noting that such intervention would serve as a religious duty and a record of standing against injustice both on earth and on the Day of Judgement.

The CMB prayed for the continued health, long life, and influence of the Islamic leaders “in the service of Islam and society at large.”