By: Hon. Comrade James Onifade
URGENT DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ₦131 BILLION WITHHELD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ALLOCATIONS FROM OSUN STATE SINCE FEBRUARY 2025
Your Excellency,
We, the people of Osun State, write to you in desperation and with profound concern regarding the continued unlawful withholding of over ₦131 billion in statutory allocations belonging to our local government councils since February 2025. This letter seeks to appeal to your sense of justice, constitutional duty, and commitment to the rule of law, demanding your immediate intervention to end this administrative siege on grassroots governance in our state.
THE CRISIS: FACTS AND CHRONOLOGY
Since February 2025, the Federal Government has unlawfully withheld monthly allocations due to the 30 local government councils in Osun State. This withholding has now accumulated to approximately ₦131 billion funds that were constitutionally and statutorily allocated to our local governments by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The crisis stems from disputed local government leadership following elections held on February 22, 2025. However, the legal position is crystal clear:
In November 2022, the Federal High Court, Osogbo, sacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) council chairmen and councillors whose election in 2022 was conducted in flagrant violation of the law. This judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal on February 10, 2025, and further reaffirmed on June 13, 2025. These court judgments are not opinions; they are binding legal determinations.
In compliance with these valid court orders, Osun State conducted fresh local government elections on February 22, 2025, which produced duly elected chairmen and councillors who were sworn in on February 23, 2025. These officials constitute the only lawful local government leadership in Osun State today.
The court-sacked APC officials, despite having no legal mandate whatsoever, have unlawfully occupied local government secretariats across the state for nearly a year. Multiple court judgments have declared them removed from office. There is no Supreme Court order reinstating them. Their tenure expired in October 2025 and cannot be extended beyond that date under our Constitution.
THE INJUSTICE: HUMAN COST AND CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION
Your Excellency, while governments argue about legality in air-conditioned offices, the people of Osun State are suffering immeasurable hardship:
• TEACHERS AND HEALTH WORKERS – Primary school teachers, nurses, and health workers in 332 primary health care centres across Osun have gone months without salaries. These are essential workers serving the poorest among us.
• COUNCIL WORKERS AND PENSIONERS – Local government workers and retirees people who have dedicated their lives to public service cannot feed their families or pay their medical bills.
• TRADITIONAL RULERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS – Even our respected traditional institutions are unable to function and serve our communities.
• CRIPPLED GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE – Grassroots governance has been paralyzed. Local government councils cannot provide basic services, maintain infrastructure, or address community needs.
Your Excellency, this is not a mere political dispute. This is a humanitarian crisis affecting millions of ordinary Osun people who have nothing to do with partisan politics.
THE LEGAL POSITION
Article 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) mandates that local government allocations be paid to constitutionally recognized local government authorities. The duly elected chairmen and councillors sworn in on February 23, 2025, are the only legally constituted local government authorities in Osun State.
There exists no constitutional provision for tenure elongation. The Supreme Court itself, in the case of former Oyo State Governor Ladoja, established clearly that no official can remain in office beyond the expiration of their tenure, regardless of circumstances.
The withholding of these funds has no legal justification. The Attorney-General of the Federation has not produced any valid court order authorizing this action. As recent reports indicate, the Attorney-General instructed the withholding without your knowledge or approval.
Multiple petitions have been filed before the apex court questioning the legality of this withholding. The matter remains unresolved, yet the people continue to suffer daily. This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy.
WHAT WE ASK OF YOU, MR. PRESIDENT
1. IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION – Investigate the circumstances under which the Attorney-General of the Federation directed the withholding of these funds without your authorization, and demand accountability.
2. UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE – Issue an immediate directive to the Accountant-General of the Federation to release all withheld local government allocations to Osun State.
3. HALT THE ILLEGAL SIEGE – Use the full power of your office to ensure that the Nigerian Police Force ceases its unlawful protection of individuals occupying local government secretariats in violation of court orders.
4. BANKING INTEGRITY – Address the shameful situation at United Bank for Africa, where bank officials have conspired to channel funds to court-sacked officials in violation of the law.
5. UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION – Make clear your administration’s unwavering commitment to the rule of law and the Constitution, particularly regarding the sanctity of court judgments.
Mr. President, you have positioned your administration as committed to fighting corruption, promoting the rule of law, and protecting democratic institutions. This crisis in Osun is your test.
The Osun people are not against the Federal Government. We respect the office of the President. We understand the complexities of governance. But we cannot, and will not, accept that an administration committed to constitutional governance would permit the continued violation of court judgments and the starvation of local government councils in defiance of the Constitution.
The withheld funds belong to the people of Osun State. They are not the property of the Federal Government to deploy as a political weapon. The Constitution is clear. The courts have spoken. The people have voted. And grassroots democracy is gasping for breath.
A SOLEMN CALL FOR IMMEDIATE AND DECISIVE ACTION
Your Excellency, we cannot overemphasize the urgency and gravity of this matter. The people of Osun State are at their breaking point. We have endured this siege with patience and faith in the constitutional order, but that patience is now EXHAUSTED.
We are DEMANDING that you personally intervene within TWO WEEKS of receiving this letter to direct the immediate and unconditional release of ALL withheld local government allocations to Osun State. This is not a request it is an imperative call to action.
Let us be unambiguous about the timeline: On February 22, 2026, we will mark ONE FULL YEAR since the constitutional election that produced the lawful local government leadership in Osun State. This anniversary date carries profound symbolic and political significance for our people.
The people of Osun are looking to you, Mr. President, to demonstrate fatherly leadership and constitutional wisdom BEFORE that date arrives. Your response within the next two weeks will reverberate far beyond Osun State it will define your place in Nigeria’s democratic history and your political journey toward 2027 and beyond.
A SOLEMN WARNING ABOUT WHAT COMES NEXT
Your Excellency, we must be frank with you: if this withheld funding is not released within the stipulated TWO-WEEK timeframe, the people of Osun State will have no choice but to take to the streets in MASSIVE, SUSTAINED, PEACEFUL PROTESTS.
These will not be mere political demonstrations they will be the collective cry of a people defending their constitutional and inalienable rights. Teachers deprived of their salaries. Health workers unable to care for their families. Pensioners abandoned by the state. Retirees facing financial ruin. All will march in peaceful but determined protest.
These protests WILL draw the urgent attention of international community, international human rights organizations, civil society networks across Africa and the world, development partners and international observers, and the United Nations and global democratic institutions.
The images will be broadcast worldwide, suffering teachers, unpaid health workers, abandoned retirees, and citizens defending their constitutional entitlements. The narrative will be clear and damning: A sovereign government is deliberately depriving its citizens of funds constitutionally allocated to them.
We say this not as a threat, but as a factual warning born of deep concern for our nation’s international standing and your administration’s reputation in 2027 and beyond.
I dropped my pen 🖊 here while awaiting your response with total alacrity
E-signed: Hon. Comrade James Onifade
Advocate for Good Governance and A Better Judicial System
