The Osun State Government is yet to release any information on the running and administration of local governments, local council development authorities (LCDAs), administrative offices, and area councils in the state, a week after the resignation of the council chairmen.
OSUN DEFENDER had in its last edition, reported the concerns of stakeholders in the state over the silence of the state government on the structure of administration at the third tier of government.
The medium reported that 401 chairmen and members of the caretaker management committees of the council areas last week Wednesday tendered their resignation.
The mass resignation OSUN DEFENDER gathered followed the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, which declared them illegal and prohibited them from managing the finances of the local governments.
The decision of the chairmen to quit their positions, according to the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, was to allow them to contest the forthcoming local government elections in the state.
He said: “We have received resignation letters. Those who resigned did so to be eligible for the party primaries, in preparation for the local government elections that will take place next year.
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“The Electoral Act has made it mandatory for anyone who takes part in the party’s primaries to be the first to resign from their political office.”
The Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), requires political appointees interested in an election to step down before vying for an elective office.
Osun State has operated its local government system with caretaker management committees since Governor Ademola Adeleke took office on November 27, 2022, with their first appointment on August 26, 2023, and reappointment on February 26, 2024.
As at the time of filling this report, OSUN DEFENDER observed that the State Government had not yet come forward with the required information on who would take charge of the local governments in the state.
The next local government elections will hold in the state on February 25, 2025, according to the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC).
