Concerns Over Management Of Local Govts In Osun

• Caretaker Chairmen, Members Resign After Supreme Court Verdict 

• LG Election Primaries Begin Next Week As 17 Parties Show Interest

• Fate Of LCDAs, Administrative Offices Yet To Be Decided

There are concerns over the selection of the new leadership of Local Government areas, Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) and Administrative offices in Osun State. 

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the concerns have grown due to the resignation of the 401 Caretaker Chairmen and members of the management committees of the council areas on Wednesday.

Those who resigned include 69 caretaker chairmen and 332 caretaker members drawn from each of the 332 wards in the state, while some local government secretaries also voluntarily left their positions. 

The caretaker management committees, first appointed by Governor Ademola Adeleke on August 26, 2023, and re-appointed on February 26, 2024, quit their offices after the Supreme Court Judgement of July 11, 2024, which proclaimed their illegality and barred them from administering the finances of the third-tier of government.

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER, however, revealed that the decision of the ex-chairmen to resign their appointments is in compliance with the Electoral Act (as amended), which mandates political appointees who are interested in an election to resign their appointments before contesting.

Almost all the ex-chairmen and their management committee members, it was learnt, are interested in taking part in the February 25, 2025, local government election in Osun State.

Speaking with journalists after tendering his resignation, the former Caretaker Chairman of Ifelodun local government who doubles as the outgoing chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria in Osun State, Sarafadeen Awotunde, said all the 69 caretaker chairmen and 332 members drawn from different wards across the state have resigned their positions since the Supreme Court had declared them as illegal office occupants.

Awotunde said, “Since we already called them caretaker, I don’t think there is any appropriate word to use than that they resigned. Nobody sacked them.

“Caretakers have a temporary time to spend. It means their time is over. If you look at it critically, you will see that the Supreme Court has given a verdict. So whatever is called caretaker now is illegal. So, there is nothing like a caretaker in Nigeria again.”

When contacted, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, also confirmed the development.

He said, “We have been receiving resignation letters. Those who resigned did so to be eligible for the party primary, preparatory for the local government elections coming up next year.

“The Electoral Act has made it mandatory for whoever will participate in party’s primary to resign from political office first.”

As of the time of filing this report yesterday, OSUN DEFENDER noted the Osun State Government had yet to come up with the requisite information on who takes over the leadership of the local government areas in the state.

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Feelers within the government indicated that Governor Ademola Adeleke may before next week announce the handover of the management to the Heads of Local Government Administration (HLAs) in the council areas as citizens and residents of the state look forward to the latest developments on the matter.   

• LG Election Primaries Begin Next Week As 17 Parties Show Interest

Barring any last-minute change, primary elections to produce the councillorship and chairmanship candidates for the respective political parties interested in next year’s local government election will begin on Monday, July 22.

OSUN DEFENDER reports that according to the timetable released by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), the primaries will end on August 6. 

In the meantime, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 16 other political parties have expressed their intention to participate in the election.

The remaining parties are Action Alliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (A), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Action Congress (AAC), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Allied Peoples Party (APP) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

Others are the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Labour Party (LP), Boot Party (BP), National Rescue Movement (NRM) and the Young Peoples Party (YPP).

Only the main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to show interest in participating in the polls.

The Vice Chairman of the Osun State Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Bunmi Adetunji, confirmed to OSUN DEFENDER that the parties have submitted their letter of intention.

The 16 political parties had earlier on Monday, announced their withdrawal from the election, but rescinded their decision after Governor Adeleke’s intervention.

Adetunji said the political parties met with the OSIEC chairman, Barr. Hashim Abioye added that their differences have been resolved. 

He said, “After a fruitful deliberation with stakeholders in Osun state, we are glad to inform the general public that we have rescinded the earlier decision on the forthcoming local government poll. 

“OSIEC Chairman, Barrister Hashim Abioye, has shown to have a listening ear and is ready to work with us. We hereby wish to tell the good people of Osun that we are ready to participate in the election. 

“We have submitted our letter of intention to conduct our parties’ primary election. We wish to appreciate Governor Ademola Adeleke and other stakeholders for their timely intervention on the matter.”

• Fate Of LCDAs, Administrative Offices Yet To Be Decided

In the meantime, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) has disclosed that it is looking for a way to resolve issues surrounding the Local Council Development Areas, Administrative Offices and Area Councils, in line with the judgement of the Supreme Court on Local Government Autonomy.

OSIEC said the decision of the Supreme Court was clear on the 774 local governments, admitting that where issues are is on the case of the Local Council Development Areas and Administrative Offices. 

The chairman of the commission, Abioye noted that since the creation of the LCDAs and Administrative Offices is backed by the state’s laws, OSIEC is looking for a way to resolve the issue without running foul of the Supreme Court decision. 

He assured that the notice of election given by OSIEC was in line with the law, having been issued at least 360 days before the election date, as required by the Electoral Act and OSSIEC Law. 

He said, “We are still looking at the Supreme Court judgement. The Court was clear about the 774 local governments. 

“Osun State laws created the Local Council Development Areas and Administrative offices and in the state, we conduct elections based on the electoral act and the Osun State Laws. 

“If the Osun state law says we should conduct elections into the LCDAs, that means there could be a way of looking at the Supreme Court decisions even if it takes us to the State House of Assembly to do certain things for us not to run contrary to certain decisions of the Supreme Court. 

“But if there is a way around it, we will carry all the stakeholders along and make public our position very soon.”

Abioye also called for the strengthening of state electoral bodies, noting that calls from some quarters to give the responsibility of conducting local council elections to INEC was not the way to go.