?Welcomes intervention by traditional rulers

The Osun state government has again renewed its call on the Federal Government to release Osun state local governments allocations in recognition and compliance with the recent Court of Appeal judgement on the state's Local Government leadership question.

The Government also welcomed and supported the intervention of Traditional rulers and other leaders of thought to secure the immediate release of the fund to stop current hardship the fund seizure is inflicting on grassroots communities across the state.

The Government in a statement from the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, affirmed that there is no legal or political basis for withholding the allocations, asserting that ?before the law today, the elected chairmen and councilors that were produced based on the local Government elections of 22nd February, 2025, are the official leadership of the local governments in Osun state.

?We are aware that the Federal Government and indeed the Presidency have all the facts of the situation concerning Osun Local Governments and the reality remains that the court judgement sacking the APC Yes/No election Chairmen and Councilors remains valid and was recently validated by the 13th June judgement of the Court of Appeal. As a matter of fact, there should not be any further controversy after the appeal court judgement recognizing the elected chairmen and councillors who are products of the 22nd February, 2025, Local Government elections.

?We further submit that there is no judicial judgement halting the release of the withheld fund as the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy has never been implemented and Osun State alone cannot be singled out from the 36 states even if the apex judgement has come into effect.

"We clarify further that even if the Supreme Court judgment is applied to Osun state, the local government accounts for such payment must still be opened with the duly elected officials of the 22nd February, 2025 and accredited local officials as signatories in line with the law passed by the State Assembly as provided by Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Hence, there is still no ground to withhold the state?s local government allocations.

?As a government, we are aware that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu only got to know about the funds seizure from the Nigerian Tribune front page during the Eid (Ileya) holidays which, means that the Attorney-General of the Federation instructed the Accountant General of the Federation to withhold the funds without presidential approval. We, therefore, appeal to Mr. President to intervene and order the release of Osun local government allocations.

?We further support the plan by the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers to meet Mr. President on this matter. The local government crisis is beyond politics as it has to do with governmental levels that directly affect the lives of our people. The intervention of our apolitical monarchs is therefore a welcome development?, the statement noted.

?As a government, we learnt that those who masterminded the fund seizure were targeting Governor Ademola Adeleke but the real victims are the people of Osun state who are well at home with good governance delivery across Osun state. The attack on the state Governor has failed and we urge those behind the illegal move to abandon the anti-people path and release Osun local government funds without further delay?, the Commissioner concluded.

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