• Group asks IPAC to boycott poll over court verdict
• Stop misleading public over Appeal Court judgment, APC tells governor
• NLC asks members in council offices to withdraw services amid faceoff
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, yesterday, called on President Bola Tinubu to warn the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, against causing violence and chaos in the state ahead of the February 22 local council poll.
The governor accused Oyetola of allegedly planning to enforce what he termed non-existent Court of Appeal judgment, which purportedly reinstated local council chairmen and councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2022, who were sacked by a Federal High Court judgment.
Adeleke, who spoke during a media briefing in Osogbo, said: “The bone of contention is the brazen effrontery to return to office the council chairmen sacked by a subsisting court judgment using a different court decision, which has no consequential order. Let me make it clear that the said council chairmen were sacked before I was sworn in as governor of Osun State, contrary to the lies being peddled that the chairmen and councillors were sacked by my Executive Order.
Also, the Southwest PDP has urged the President to call Oyetola to order not to cause mayhem in Osun State over the judgment.
Spokesman of Southwest PDP, Sanya Atofarati, who spoke with The Guardian on telephone, yesterday, admonished the people of the state to be ready to resist anyone trying to create violence in the state under the guise of Appeal Court judgment on local councils.
A loyalist of Rauf Aregbesola, Sola Fasure, warned all the stakeholders to be mindful not to create mayhem in Osun State.
He said the state had been very peaceful and there is no need to plunge it into any form of violence.
However, a socio-political group, the Osun Youths Progressives (O-SPY), has urged the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) to boycott the election, insisting that the council positions remain legally occupied, making the planned election unnecessary and illegal.
The group’s Coordinator, Tunmise Ajiboye, who spoke with journalists, yesterday, said: “The constitution is clear that the government must obey the court verdict before taking any further action.
“We want to urge IPAC to boycott the upcoming illegal council election. It will be pure contempt and affront on the judiciary. Leave the illegality to OSIEC.”
MEANWHILE, Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, urged Adeleke to stop misleading the public over the Court of Appeal judgment, which purportedly reinstated the sacked council chairmen elected on the platform of the party.
The opposition party said that tactic being deployed by the PDP-led government in the state to hoodwink members of the public over continued disobedience to the court judgment.
This reaction was contained in a statement forwarded to journalists in Osogbo by the APC’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi.
The statement said that “rather than appreciate the legal and lawful means being adopted by the APC and the elected officers in venting their grievances, it is worrisome that Adeleke’s government had chosen to instigate the unsuspecting members of the public against the APC.”
The APC, while describing Adeleke’s call on President Tinubu regarding the warning of Oyetola against causing violence in Osun as ridiculous, contended that “disobedience to court judgment is not only laughable but disappointing, more so that such is coming from the government that has a duty to respect the rule of law.”
IN another development, the Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed its members working in councils in the state to withdraw their services, effective today.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Christopher Arapasopo, and dated Sunday, February 16, 2025, the NLC said it had observed the ongoing political unrest, which has caused agitation and fear among its members working in local council offices.
