Senior Advocate of Nigeria and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Kunle Adegoke, has accused the Osun State government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of spreading false narratives and frustrating the release of local government funds by the Federal Government.
Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Thursday, Adegoke said: “I’m deeply concerned and that is why I’m here. And why I’m concerned is because of the narratives that have been sold to the public, which are quite wrong, by the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party. And that is why it is important because they have run from pillar to post, from one media house to another, selling false narratives, which must be corrected. Otherwise, the members of the public will be condemning the Federal Government, will be condemning APC, which will be a wrong conclusion. And that is why I’m here.”
Tracing the origin of the dispute, he explained that the controversy began in 2022 when the then APC-led government in Osun conducted local government elections that were challenged by the PDP in court. According to him: “In 2022, the government of Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola was about conducting local government elections in the state when PDP went to court to challenge the competence of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission to conduct that election. Along the way, they amended their suit, APC objected, but the Federal High Court refused to agree with APC. The matter went to the Court of Appeal.”
He noted that the Federal High Court eventually nullified the election and dissolved APC-led councils on November 25, 2022, just two days before Governor Ademola Adeleke was sworn in. “On the swearing-in ground, he dissolved the councils without even giving the officers affected their constitutional right of appeal. He didn’t wait for the length of time required by law so that they could exercise their right of appeal. He dissolved the councils and sent everybody home,” Adegoke said.
According to him, the Court of Appeal later ruled in February 2025 that the PDP had no locus standi to file the action in the first place. “The court said that the suit itself was premature, was preemptive. The party that filed the PDP had no competence to even file the action, and that decision was set aside. Now, having ruled on that, the implication is that nothing was in existence with respect to that particular case.”
On claims that the Court of Appeal validated the PDP’s position, Adegoke dismissed them. “No, that is not the case. The decision of the Court of Appeal on June 13 did not say anything of that nature. It is the leading judgment of the Court of Appeal that is the judgment of the Court. Any concurring opinion that goes against the leading judgment is a no-beater and does not even form part of the judgment at all. Nothing was said by Justice Obiora to the effect that maybe the councillors of PDP are now the valid people in office or the APC chairmen and councillors have been sacked. There is nothing like that.”
He accused the Osun State government of filing multiple cases in different courts to prevent the funds from being disbursed to APC-led councils. “It is the PDP and the government in Osun that are frustrating the payment of the local government funds. APC has not filed a single case. But does APC have a right to stop the payment of those funds? Yes, because the decision of the Supreme Court is that the government has the right to stop payment because there is nobody to be paid to right now from the PDP angle.”
He added: “The Osun government has filed so many cases in so many courts right now as we speak—at Ilesa, at the Federal High Court in Osogbo, and even at the Supreme Court. They sued the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Accountant-General, and the CBN that the money should not be released. If you are the one filing cases here and there saying the money should not be released and at the same time you are going to the market to say that you are the one being victimised, you are playing victim. At the same time, you are the one frustrating.”
On the way forward, Adegoke insisted the solution lies with Osun PDP stepping aside for APC-elected council officials to access the funds. “The way forward is for PDP and the government in Osun to allow this money to be released to the authentic leaders of the councils that are in existence right now who have opened accounts with the CBN. If these monies are released today to the authentic leaders of the local government, the local government workers will be paid. APC councillors and chairmen will not take this money and be doing parties—they will pay the appropriate persons.”
Responding to concerns over the legality of APC officials being signatories to the accounts, he said: “The workers have been on strike since February, pitching tents with the PDP government and its pretenders. They have been on strike claiming they will not resume until the APC chairmen and councillors are removed. So, who are the signatories? They are the APC officials. If the workers come back to work today, they will be the signatories. But they are staying at home.”
Citing the Supreme Court’s position, he concluded: “The decision in A.G. Lagos and A.G. Abia cases have said that payments should be made to democratically elected officers, not to state governments. Payments have always been made to the Joint Allocation Account of the state under the control of the government, and that is how they have been subverting the autonomy of the local government. That should not be the case.”
Boluwatife Enome
The post Kunle Adegoke: PDP, Osun Government Selling False Narratives To Frustrate LG Funds appeared first on Arise News.
