The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has issued a stern warning of an impending nationwide strike if the Osun State Government continues to withhold allocations meant for local governments in the state.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, the union’s President-General, Comrade Aliyu Kankara, expressed deep concern over what he described as the “unlawful hijacking” of local government funds by actors in Osun State.
He accused the state government of deliberately crippling the third tier of governance, warning that NULGE would no longer tolerate what he termed a “gross violation of constitutional order.”
“We are alarmed by the surreptitious attempts to override extant laws and hand over the management of local government accounts to impostors who are not recognised by law,” Kankara declared.
Tensions have been building in Osun State since February following a contentious legal battle over the leadership of local governments.
The situation escalated after the Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State, on June 13, dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), which sought to reinstate its members who were sacked as chairmen and councillors in 2022.
The appellate court upheld the positions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates, affirming their legitimacy as the duly elected local government officials.
Reacting to the judgment, Governor Ademola Adeleke described the verdict as a reaffirmation of the will of the people and the rule of law. In a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor praised the judiciary for upholding the legality of the current local government leadership.
However, the APC has refused to accept the ruling as final. In a statement issued by its state legal officer, Chief Adegoke Ogunsola, the party argued that only the Supreme Court can invalidate the February 10, 2025 judgment which, according to them, reinstated their members.
The APC accused Governor Adeleke and the PDP of misleading the public and manipulating the judiciary for political advantage.
NULGE’s threat of industrial action signals a deepening national concern over the autonomy and integrity of local governments in Nigeria.
The union called on the federal government, civil society, and democratic institutions to intervene swiftly to halt what it called the “systematic dismantling” of grassroots governance in Osun.
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