News
Osun presses FG to release LG funds after appeal court victory
The Osun State Government has intensified its call for the Federal Government to release withheld local government allocations, citing a recent Court of Appeal judgment that validates the leadership of elected local government officials.
The state argues that the continued seizure of these funds is causing significant hardship for grassroots communities.
In a statement issued by Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, the Hon. Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, the Osun State Government emphasized that there is no legal or political justification for withholding the funds.
READ ALSO: Adeleke has zero leadership skill – APC *How Osun gov blew N10billion on food in one year
“There is no legal or political basis for withholding the allocations, asserting that before the law today, the elected chairmen and councilors that were produced based on the local Government elections of 22nd February, 2025, are the official leadership of the local governments in Osun state,” Alimi declared.
The statement referenced the Court of Appeal’s June 13 judgment, which upheld the legitimacy of the elected chairmen and councilors from the February 22, 2025, local government elections, dismissing the previous “Yes/No” election process.
Alimi stressed, “The reality remains that the court judgement sacking the APC Yes/No election Chairmen and Councilors remains valid and was recently validated by the 13th June judgement of the Court of Appeal.”
The government also clarified that even if the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy were enforced, the funds should still be channeled through the duly elected officials of February 22, 2025, as recognized by law. “There is still no ground to withhold the state’s local government allocations,” Alimi asserted.
Expressing concern over the unauthorized nature of the fund seizure, Alimi noted, “As a government, we are aware that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu only got to know about the funds seizure from the Nigerian Tribune front page during the Eid (Ileya) holidays, which means that the Attorney-General of the Federation instructed the Accountant General of the Federation to withhold the funds without presidential approval.” The state has appealed to President Tinubu to intervene and order the immediate release of the funds.
The Osun State Government welcomed the intervention of the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers, who plan to meet with President Tinubu to resolve the issue. “The intervention of our apolitical monarchs is therefore a welcome development,” Alimi said, emphasizing that the crisis transcends politics and directly impacts the lives of Osun residents.
Accusing detractors of targeting Governor Ademola Adeleke, Alimi stated, “Those who masterminded the fund seizure were targeting Governor Ademola Adeleke, but the real victims are the people of Osun state who are well at home with good governance delivery across Osun state.” He urged those responsible for the seizure to “abandon the anti-people path” and release the funds without delay.
The Osun State Government remains firm in its stance, calling for immediate action to alleviate the hardship faced by local communities due to the withholding of their rightful allocations.
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
-
Columns4 weeks agoAbike Dabiri: Did Obi raise a monster or you’re drunk on Tinubu’s poisoned chalice?
-
News3 weeks agoJandor: Tinubu didn’t endorses Hamzat *I’ve briefed President on my ambition
-
Columns4 weeks agoBe the hero that saved Nigeria! Open letter to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Makinde, Turaki, lose! *S’Court affirms Wike’s PDP leadership
-
Columns4 weeks agoNow VDM has become Sowore’s nemesis, does Peter Obi need anther advocate?
-
Features2 weeks agoJim Nwobodo: The Sun shines, thrills, at ‘The Vanguard Awards’
-
News1 day agoTinubu to African leaders: Copy Nigeria, produce your way out of poverty
-
News3 weeks agoADC: Fight, scatter them! *Presidency goads Kogi lawmaker on Mark’s leadership