Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has renewed his call on the Federal Government to release statutory allocations due to local governments in the state, urging the authorities in Abuja to heed the advice of the Nigerian Bar Association and other stakeholders who have declared the continued seizure of the funds unconstitutional.

Reacting to interventions by the NBA, the Council of Obas in Osun, and other civic groups, Adeleke praised their courage in standing up for truth and the rule of law.

“We are vindicated on all fronts on our rightful claim on the local government crisis,” the governor said in a statement on Wednesday. “I must particularly commend the NBA leadership for setting up a committee to investigate the Osun local government question and for demonstrating the rare courage to release the report which declared that there is no legal basis for the continuous withholding of Osun local government allocations.”

Adeleke welcomed the NBA’s clarification that his administration was not responsible for the removal of the All Progressives Congress council chairmen in 2022, noting that it was a court of law that ordered their sack.

“After their sack in 2022, the APC chairmen filed for stay of execution which the court denied. I was not in any way responsible for their sack. The NBA’s finding has authenticated this reality,” he said.

Adeleke stressed that the fresh elections held on February 22, 2025, were conducted strictly in line with judicial pronouncements and produced 30 Peoples Democratic Party council chairmen and their councillors, who have since been recognised by the Court of Appeal.

“The action of the NBA on the Osun local government matters has cleared all doubts. By law, today, PDP elected chairmen and councillors are the rightful occupants of the Osun local government leadership,” Adeleke said. “There is, therefore, no legal or constitutional basis for the withholding of Osun LG allocations.”

The governor thanked traditional rulers, legal luminaries, including Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), and what he described as “lovers of justice and democracy” for supporting Osun in the dispute.

“I again call on the Federal Government to release Osun seized allocations in line with the law and demands of the constitution. We will continue to deploy due process and rule of law in our struggle for justice on this matter,” he added.

The NBA had, in a strongly worded letter to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), demanded the immediate release of Osun’s local government funds, describing their continued withholding as “unconstitutional, unlawful and a dangerous affront to the rule of law.”

NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), and General Secretary, Mobolaji Ojibara, signed the letter, which stressed that the President had no powers to suspend or withhold local government funds.

“The withholding of allocations meant for local governments in Osun State amounts to a violation of the Constitution, a disregard for the rule of law and an affront to clear pronouncements of the courts,” the NBA stated, citing the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney General of the Federation (2004).

The lawyers’ body also warned that such actions set a “dangerous precedent, weaken public confidence in democratic institutions, and embolden lawlessness at all levels.”

The local government crisis in Osun traces back to October 2022 when former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola conducted controversial elections later nullified by the Federal High Court.

The ensuing legal tussle ended with the Court of Appeal’s June 13, 2025 judgment, which upheld the February 2025 polls won by the PDP.

Despite these developments, the NBA revealed that federal authorities, acting on a March 26, 2025 advisory, continued to recognize the sacked APC officials and allegedly instructed the Ministry of Finance to withhold allocations until October 2025.

The association has since directed its National Litigation Committee and Section on Public Interest and Development Law to engage stakeholders and warned that it may head to court if dialogue fails.

But the Osun APC faulted the NBA over its intervention in the matter.

In a statement signed by its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, on Wednesday, the APC described the NBA’s intervention as “needless” and a “disappointment,” accusing the association of turning itself into a law court.

“It is disheartening, worrisome and shameful that the NBA, a professional body that has a burden of integrity hanging on its neck … could have the shameless audacity to poke its nose in a matter that doesn’t concern it in Osun State,” the statement read.

The party further argued, “In the first instance, the NBA is not a party to the suit. They have no locus to review it. The NBA is not the Supreme Court of Nigeria. They have no jurisdiction to review or even interpret the judgement of the Court of Appeal … There is nothing in law called ‘tacit recognition’ which the NBA has, disingenuously, invented to justify its pecuniary consideration.”

The APC said NBA’s opinion could not override the Constitution, warning that its intervention was “capable of misleading the public.” It urged the association’s leadership “to desist from using the name of the noble profession to trade.”

Meanwhile, traditionalists who marked the grand finale of the annual Isese Day Festival in Osogbo on Wednesday predicted victory for Governor Ademola Adeleke in the tussle with the Federal Government over the funds.

Led by the Ojugbona of Ileogbo, Kayode Olagunju, they offered prayers and performed kolanut divination three times, each reportedly returning victory for the state.

Explaining the ritual, President of the Traditional Religion Worshippers Association, Dr. Oluseyi Atanda, said, “The state government solicited that we should intervene. They have asked traditionalists to pray. Now, we have prayed. … The first kolanut that was thrown came with isegun (victory). Ifa also gave a warning. Ifa says the government of Osun State will not show gratitude to Isese.”

Atanda added that the funds would be released, but the state government must show appreciation.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Culture, Alex Oloke, said, “The prayer they offered here, it will move faster than fasting and prayers, because the component of our prayer system has to do with nature. … When they used kolanut to ask, it gave us ‘Isegun,’ that is, we are going to have victory over that issue.”

He pledged the Adeleke administration’s continued support for traditionalists, stressing that no religion would be placed above another.

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