In the history of Nigerian politics, where power struggles often eclipse public interest, the ongoing crisis over local government funds in Osun State serves as a stark reminder of how impunity can temporarily shield the powerful, but ultimately, accountability catches up.
The mismanagement of LG allocations funds meant for grassroots development has become a battleground between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party under Governor Ademola Adeleke and the opposition All Progressives Congress, led by figures like former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
As allegations fly from both sides, a recent court ruling on LG autonomy has intensified the debate, exposing deep-seated biases and legal loopholes. Yet, amid the chaos, one truth emerges: no one escapes punishment forever.
The Roots of Crisis: A Constitutional Victory Betrayed
When Nigeria’s Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the nation’s 774 local governments in July 2024, it represented a significant constitutional victory for grassroots democracy. The ruling mandated direct payment of allocations from the Federation Account to LG councils, bypassing state governments entirely. On paper, this was elegant: it aimed to curb decades of mismanagement where governors allegedly diverted funds meant for community development into personal or partisan coffers.
In Osun State, however, the ruling has been weaponized rather than implemented. When Governor Adeleke dissolved the LG councils established by his predecessor Oyetola, citing irregularities in their formation, he triggered a cascade of consequences that would ultimately harm the very people these funds were meant to serve. New elections were held in February 2025, but the APC contested them vigorously, leading to multiple lawsuits that spiraled into a constitutional standoff.
The intervention by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, marked a troubling moment in this saga. Labeling the removal of councilors as “treasonable,” he advised the governor to reinstate the dissolved officials.
Consequently, federal allocations for Osun’s local governments over ₦130 billion have been withheld since March 2025, pending resolution.
A System of Mutual Accusations and Partisan Paralysis
What has unfolded since March 2025 is a masterclass in how political rivalry can strangle the very institutions designed to serve ordinary citizens. Both the PDP and APC trade accusations with the precision of seasoned prosecutors. The APC claims the Adeleke administration diverted ₦3.7 billion in LG funds, while the PDP counters that the opposition is using federal influence to starve grassroots communities and that the previous regime’s corruption far exceeded current allegations.
These accusations may or may not be substantiated but that is precisely the problem. When political parties become locked in mutually destructive conflicts, the machinery of accountability grinds to a halt. Instead of independent investigations and transparent proceedings, we get public statements from commissioners, bench warrants issued against banks, and legal interpretations colored by partisan loyalty.
A magistrate court in Osogbo’s issuance of a bench warrant against United Bank for Africa and its staff in January 2026 exemplifies how this crisis has metastasized. What should have been a simple administrative matter disbursing funds to legitimately constituted local governments has become entangled in warrants, withheld allocations, and bureaucratic paralysis.
The Bias Behind the Bench: A Question of Impartiality
Perhaps the most troubling dimension of this crisis is not the alleged mismanagement itself, but the apparent bias in how the dispute is being adjudicated. Commissioner Kolapo Alimi’s assertion that Attorney General Fagbemi’s opinion is “tainted” due to his prior relationship with Oyetola cannot be dismissed as mere partisan rhetoric. When the nation’s chief law officer, appointed by an APC-led federal government, issues guidance that favors the APC’s interests, and when that same official previously represented Oyetola in the 2022 election petition, questions of conflict of interest are not unfounded they are inevitable.
This is not an isolated incident but rather symptomatic of a deeper institutional problem. When the judiciary and executive organs become perceived as partisan tools, the entire edifice of accountability crumbles. Citizens lose faith not just in specific administrations but in the system itself.
The Nigerian Bar Association’s interpretation which emphasizes that the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling does not retroactively validate dissolved councils but rather reinforces direct funding to legitimate LG administrations deserves serious consideration precisely because it comes from an independent professional body without apparent partisan axe to grind.
Rights groups and legal experts who have characterized Fagbemi’s opinion as “biased and unfounded” are not making frivolous claims; they are pointing to a genuine institutional failure.
The True Victims: Osun’s Forgotten Citizens
Amid the legal maneuvering and political posturing, the real cost of this impasse is borne by Osun’s residents. Over ₦130 billion in withheld funds translates to unbuilt roads, shuttered clinics, understaffed schools, and unpaid workers and pensioners. Children in rural communities lack adequate educational infrastructure. Elderly citizens wait for promised healthcare facilities. Small-scale farmers see no investment in agricultural extension services or rural markets.
This is the true mismanagement: not merely the diversion of funds, but the weaponization of governance itself. When resources meant for human development become pawns in political games, everyone loses except perhaps those who profit from the disorder.
Impunity Has an Expiration Date
History teaches harsh lessons about impunity. Those who believe that political connections, federal cover, or institutional capture can indefinitely shield them from accountability have invariably been proven wrong. The courts, when they finally operate with genuine independence, have a way of catching up with malfeasance. Electoral processes, when they are truly competitive and transparent, have a way of punishing those who failed to serve.
That said, justice delayed is justice denied. The impunity that allows Osun’s crisis to persist month after month, withholding resources from vulnerable populations, is itself a form of injustice that compounds the original alleged wrongs. If Fagbemi’s opinion is indeed biased, it must be challenged not just in opinion columns but in court. If Adeleke’s administration has misappropriated funds, those actions must be independently investigated and prosecuted. If Oyetola’s regime looted public coffers, as some allegations suggest, accountability must follow.
The problem is that the system itself has become compromised. When an Attorney General’s office lacks perceived impartiality, when different legal interpretations are issued from different forums without clear resolution, and when federal power is seen as favoring one party over another, impunity thrives—at least temporarily.
A Call for Institutional Restoration
What Osun State needs now is not another layer of legal pronouncements from officials with questionable impartiality, but a genuine commitment to institutional independence. The Supreme Court’s ruling on LG autonomy was sound, it should be implemented faithfully and transparently. If there are legitimate questions about the validity of specific LG councils, these should be resolved by courts acting with unquestionable impartiality, not by federal executives with documented connections to one of the disputing parties.
Rights groups and the Nigerian Bar Association should escalate their advocacy beyond media interviews. The judiciary must signal clearly that biased interventions from any quarter whether federal officials or state politicians will not be tolerated. Independent bodies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission should investigate alleged misappropriations by all parties.
The Final Reckoning
In the end, impunity indeed has limits. No government official, regardless of current power or political connections, remains immune from accountability forever. Elections can turn parties out of office. Voters can remember broken promises and misused resources. Courts, when properly constituted and operating with integrity, can eventually hold even the powerful to account.
But the interim period, the months or years during which impunity seems to shield wrongdoers exacts a terrible price on ordinary citizens.
Osun’s residents are paying that price now, in withheld allocations, delayed development, and eroded faith in public institutions. The path forward requires all parties to recognize that their political struggle is not merely a contest for power but a test of whether Nigeria’s institutions can function with integrity. If the ruling party and the opposition cannot resolve this dispute through transparent, independent mechanisms, then both have failed the citizens they claim to represent.
History will judge not just who mismanaged funds, but also who had the opportunity to restore institutional integrity and chose partisan advantage instead. That judgment, unlike impunity, will be permanent.
E-signed: Hon. Comrade James Onifade
Advocate for Good Governance and A Better Judicial System
