Osun

Osun APC LG Chairmen’s Tenure Lapsed In 2025, Cannot Be Elongated – Adeleke Insists

ByOlamilekan Adigun

PublishedJanuary 27, 2026

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has once again insisted that the tenure of local government Chairmen elected under the All Progressives Congress lapsed on October 22, 2025 and cannot be elongated under the constitution and precedents set by Supreme Court rulings.

The governor also stated that while he respects local government autonomy, that does not translate to ‘unelected APC chairmen’ with ‘expired self-awarded tenure’ hijacking council secretariats and illegally handling public funds in contravention of state laws.

Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, noted that, “Local government autonomy is not equal to unjustifiable seizure of local government funds which are meant to pay local health workers, local teachers and local pensioners. I have been paying these local workers because local autonomy does not mean imposing avoidable hardship on the people.”

Adeleke further repeated his earlier assertion during a statewide broadcast on Monday that those occupying the local governments have no mandate or tenure and should vacate the secretariats immediately.

The governor reiterated that “the self-awarded tenure which was an illegality in the first place came to an end last year”, questioning under what mandate or authority the APC politicians are holding onto the councils.

“If truly we are in a democracy, unelected people cannot lay claim to local governments and even tamper with public funds. In a truly practical democracy, you cannot elongate your tenure for a day without being arrested and jailed.

“In a democracy, the police authority will not give cover to unelected people and people with expired self-awarded tenure to occupy the councils. The mere fact that these APC officials admitted that their tenure lapsed and had headed to court for elongation is enough for the police to withdraw cover and allow validly elected local government chairmen to assume office.

“If you admitted that your tenure has lapsed, what are you still doing at the local councils? If you had gone to court to seek tenure elongation, why must you still occupy the councils when the case has not even been heard?

“The fact that you file a case does not mean you have your tenure elongated. And your tenure cannot even be elongated because the constitution did not allow it. Osun APC are engaging in severe, criminal breach of the law and the constitution.

“In a law-abiding society, a reputable international bank like the UBA will not be violating state laws on the opening of local government accounts. But here we are. The UBA broke the law which clearly spelt out career officials as signatories to state accounts. The bank instead is colluding with APC men without mandates to open accounts and even has deep hands into public funds. This is a criminal conduct that is before the court.

“As the governor of Osun state, I affirm that this illegality must stop. We have reached out to the Presidency. The name of Mr President is being used without his knowledge, to perpetrate illegality and impunity in Osun state. Inflicting suffering on local workers is not politics. It is man’s inhumanity to fellow human beings.

“This must stop. That is my message to all true lovers and supporters of Mr President. That is my clarion call to all lovers of democracy worldwide. We must protect democratic practices from those hellbent on truncating it”, the governor said in response to the opposition.

Olamilekan Adigun

Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.