Representatives of the Governor Ademola Adeleke and former Governor Gboyega Oyetola clashed on Monday over the legality of local government election and court judgements in Osun State.
The representatives of the both camps were on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where they traded words over the issue.
Osun State Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, blamed Oyetola, now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, for orchestrating what he described as a deliberate move to install illegal council officials before exiting office in 2022.
“It’s quite unfortunate that we are experiencing what we are experiencing in Osun State. If you look back, the architect and the person who caused all these problems is the former Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola.
“After losing the July 16, 2022 governorship election, he decided to conduct a local government election despite being on his way out,” Alimi alleged.
He said that the election held on October 15, 2022, was conducted in violation of the Electoral Act which mandates a 360-day notice for such poll. He noted that the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) proceeded with a 60-day notice, despite resistance from political parties.
“All political parties warned OSIEC that what they were about to do was illegal, but it insisted and went ahead with the election,” he alleged.
Alimi added that the PDP challenged the conduct in court, but the case was struck out due to a defective originating summons.
He, however, insisted that the technical dismissal did not validate the conduct of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the time.
On his part, Adebayo Adeleke, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under Oyetola, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had no grounds to challenge the elections simply because some parties chose not to participate.
“In politics, when a political party sees it’s not popular enough, it may choose not to participate. That doesn’t invalidate the election. Those council chairmen and councillors were duly sworn in on November 25, 2022,” Adeleke said.
He explained that the PDP took the matter to court and secured a judgment which sacked the APC officials. He said Adeleke subsequently enforced the judgment upon assuming office. He said the affected APC officials complied with the ruling and pursued an appeal.
He noted that in February 2025, the Court of Appeal delivered a judgement which, according to him, allowed their appeal and supported the validity of the original LG elections.
“We asked the court to allow our appeal, and the Court of Appeal granted it,” he said. “That judgment remains valid, and nothing has changed it.”
He disputed claims that a subsequent Court of Appeal ruling in June 2025 reversed that position. “The court merely refused to relist the PDP’s appeal on procedural grounds. That does not invalidate the February judgment in our favour,” he said.
On the issue of withheld local government funding, Alimi maintained that the latest court judgment clearly affirmed the PDP’s position.
“We urge the AGF (Attorney General of the Federation) to study the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on June 13, which affirms the November 30 Federal High Court judgment that nullified the APC’s LG elections,” he said. “No amount of political manipulation can change that.”
“There is no newer judgment that overrides the February 10 ruling. The June 13 judgment simply declined to relist the PDP’s appeal—it did not nullify the earlier ruling that reinstated our chairmen and councillors,” he maintained.
He urged Osun residents to remain calm, stating that the APC chairmen and councillors are still in office and performing their duties.
Alimi concluded that only respect for the most recent court ruling can resolve the ongoing LG impasse.
“The judgment delivered on June 13 by the Court of Appeal affirms the sacking of the APC officials. This is democracy, and we urge the AGF to act on this to end the LG lockdown in Osun,” he said.
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