Tag: Osun

 

The Osun Government on Friday, filed a notice of withdrawal of the suit it instituted against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Counsel to the state’s government, Musibau Adetumbi, SAN, told Justice Emeka Nwite that the case had been overtaken by event.

Adetunbi said that the suit, which sought to safeguard the withheld local government funds, had been defeated as the allocation had been moved out of the CBN by the defendants.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Osun Attorney General (AG) had, on state’s government behalf, sued the CBN, the AGF and the Attorney-General of the Federation in the case.

Judge Nwite however dropped the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the suit, on Sept. 22, after the plaintiff discontinued the case against him, as similar suit was already before the Supreme Court.

The suit seeks to stop the Federal Government from releasing withheld local government allocations to sacked chairmen and councillors elected during former Gov. Adegboyega Oyetola’s tenure.

“On September 29, 2025, when the matter was heard, I told the court that our primary aim was to safeguard the money.

“Between then and now, we are sure that, notwithstanding the pendency of the case and order of status quo, the money was moved out of the CBN,” Adetumbi said.

He told the court that the notice of discontinuance was filed pursuant to Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules.

He said that any further arguments in the matter would amount to an academic exercise.

CBN’s lawyer, Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, and that of the AGF, Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, did not oppose the application for discontinuance of the suit.

They, however, disagreed with the averments in an affidavit of facts attached to the application.

According to Muritala, the plaintiff made damaging depositions in the affidavit of facts.

He said that the plaintiff should withdraw the affidavit along with the notice of discontinuance because some of the depositions in the affidavit were against persons who were not parties in the matter.

“Somebody can approach the court any day with a request for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the process and may decide to use it against the persons mentioned in the plaintiff’s affidavit of facts,” the CBN lawyer stated.

He argued that the grounds upon which the notice of discontinuance was predicated were in bad faith.

He said the plaintiff got it wrong when he claimed that the 1st defendant had no competent response to the plaintiff’s originating summons.

Besides, he said that a 12-paragraph counter-affidavit to the originating summons was filed on behalf of his client in May.

He urged the court to expunge paragraphs 5 to 11 in the affidavit of facts filed by the plaintiff for being inaccurate and for referring to persons who are not before the court.

AGF’s counsel, Oladoja, on his part, did not oppose the application for discontinuance.

He said the plaintiff had the liberty to withdraw his case.

“However, we are in vehement opposition to the 2nd ground upon which the application is predicated.

“The plaintiff is not under any obligation to predicate his application on any ground,” he said.

He equally argued that the plaintiff was wrong to have said that the 2nd defendant had no competent defence in the matter.

He urged the court to strike out ground one of the notice of discontinuance and ground two, which stated that certain money had been paid.

The lawyer said the 2nd defendant had not been given an opportunity to react to the claim.

Oladoja also asked for a cost of N10 million against the plaintiff for bringing the 2nd defendant to court, for the court processes filed in the matter, and for wasting the precious judicial time of the court.

Responding, Adetumbi said a notice of discontinuance under Order 50 Rule 2 of the FHC Rules does not attract cost.

He added that the defendants had not filed any process before the court.

“It is their default to have filed their process out of time.

“They cannot approach the court to ask for cost or expunging any of the grounds in the notice of discontinuance.”

The plaintiff’s counsel said the defendants were not entitled to cost because of their own default.

Justice Nwite, adjourned the matter until Oct. 29 for ruling on the plaintiff’s application for discontinuance and other applications by the defendants.

NAN earlier reported that the judge, in a ruling on Thursday, dismissed the objection raised by CBN and AGF against suit.

The judge held that the state’s AG had locus standi (legal right) to file the suit on behalf of the local government authorities

 

By Danladi Ahmed

There is no Three Hundred Million Naira scam or scandal in any Osun government agency or ministry as Governor Ademola Adeleke is running a transparent government, Spokesperson to the governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed has declared.

Reacting to the allegations levelled by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, the Spokesperson accused the state APC of manufacturing falsehood and fake news to distract from its flat low acceptability rating among Osun people.

“Beer parlour gossip elevated to the level of party propaganda cannot white wash a badly battered opposition like the APC. No amount of fake news can change the reality that APC and its aspirants are unelectable as far 2026 election is concerned”, Mallam Rasheed was quoted as saying.

According to the Spokesperson, Osun operates a procurement law with threshold of approvals and due process compliance in the procurement process, wondering how a ministry official could be accused of handling such huge amount of fund.

“Aside approval limit and the tendering process, the procurement process has a strict oversight and compliance procedures under which no such corruption could be perpetrated. The press statement containing the allegations is the lowest ebb in the downgrading process facing the state APC.

While praising the governor as a transparent, due process leader, he described the allegations as libelous, unfounded and a figment of imagination of the opposition, hinting of a legal consequence for the APC officials who made the allegations.

“We deny the allegation as a reprehensible lie from pit of hell. Governor Adeleke is a transparent and open governance leader who has never and will never tolerate corruption nor shield any official if such misdemeneur ever exist”, he concluded.

 

 

(Gov. Demola Adeleke of Osun State)

 

By

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and two of its officials in Osun have written a petition against Sen. Francis Fadahunsi accusing the lawmaker of threatening them for dragging him to court over his defection from the party.

The PDP’s executives include Mr Sunday Bisi, the state’s Chairman and Alhaji Mustapha Sikiru, the Director of Administration.

The petition, which was signed by Rapheal Oyewole, counsel to the petitioners, were addressed to the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police and Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS).

The lawyer alleged that the controversy followed the defection of Fadahunsi, who currently represents Osun East Senatorial District in the Senate, and four other lawmakers to another party.

The petition was dated Sept. 5 and received by the police and DSS on Sept. 8.

A certified true copy of the petition was made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

It was titled: “Petition against Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi for Criminal Intimidation, Harassment and Threat to Life of Alh. Mustapha Sikiru and Hon. Sunday Bisi, Chairman of PDP in Osun State;

“A Call for Urgent Intervention to Prevent loss of Lives and Breach of Peace.”

Oyewole said the PDP in Osun had, in May and August, “instituted five separate suits before the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, seeking judicial determination on the unlawful defection of five sitting members of the National Assembly. ”

“We are solicitors to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Alh. Mustapha Sikiru and HON. Sunday Bisi, hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘your petitioners’ and on whose firm and unequivocal instructions we make the following representations.

“The PDP is a duly registered and widely recognised political party in Nigeria, while your other petitioners are the Director of Administration and the Chairman of the party in Osun State, respectively.”

According to the lawyer, these legislators, having been duly elected on the platform of the PDP, brazenly abandoned the party in the very course of their subsisting tenure, in flagrant violation of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“Among the defendants in the said suits is Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, the suspect in this petition,” he said.

The lawyer alleged that rather than submit to the lawful jurisdiction of the court and allow the legal process to take its natural course, the senator resorted to acts of intimidation, harassment and threat to life in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

Oyewole alleged that the lawmaker called the party official on telephone to threaten, harass and intimidate them.

“The senator’s statements were laced with insults, intimidation and a clear threat of grievous harm, simply because your petitioners carried out their lawful duty of filing and deposing to court processes in a constitutional suit involving his unlawful defection from the PDP,” he said.

He said the telephone conversation, allegedly conducted in Yoruba, was translated into English in the petition.

“Sir, Sections 86 of the Criminal Code Act makes it a criminal offence to threaten another with injury to person, reputation, or property, with intent to cause alarm or compel that person to refrain from doing any lawful act.

“Senator Fadahunsi’s conducts falls squarely within these provisions,” he said.

The lawyer said his clients had been apprehensive for their lives and safety, given the lawmaker’s political influence.

“This valuable intelligence is to put your office on high alert, that should any harm come to your petitioners, their families and legal representatives, the suspect should be held liable,” he said.

Oyewole, therefore, urged the police and DSS to launch an investigation into the matter to ascertain whether an offence had been committed for the purpose of prosecution and/or with the aim of calling the legislator to order to forestall any planned criminal action against his clients’ lives and property.

Reacting, Sen. Fadahunsi denied the allegation in a telephone chat.

“What is their problem? What is their fear? I didn’t join the party (PDP) through Sunday or Mustapha Sikiru. So I don’t think I have any dealing with them.

“I have already resigned from the party from my ward. So I am neither from Sunday’s ward nor from his constituency.

“My constituency is Ijesa North. So why should Sunday be apprehensive? Is it because I left PDP? Is it today people have been leaving PDP?

“So why are they crying foul where there is no problem? Why are they afraid? Go and tell them to go and relax sir and do their work,” he said.

When the reporter told the senator that the reason for the petition was hinged on his telephone call with Mustapha, which was considered to be a threat to life, the lawmaker said: “Which threat? Is it today Mustapha, this my small boy, has been calling me? Is it today I have been calling him?

“Is he a member of PDP? Is he not a worker in PDP’s office? So why must I go so low?

“The governor defected from PDP to APC and back to PDP, did heaven fall? That’s the question I am asking you?

“Political parties are free association. So there shouldn’t be any quarrel. But if they have not slept because I left too, that is their problem.”

He said he was focused to deliver dividend of democracy to his senatorial district and would not be distracted.

The lawmaker said he was done with PDP after he had worked to bring up the party in the state for six years.

“None of them was a single contributor to PDP when PDP was nothing.. Where were they?” Fadahunsi asked.

According to him, so I won’t join issues with them.

“If they want to go to court, I wish them good luck. All of them are all my boys,” he said.

The senator said he was ready to work for President Bola Tinubu ‘s re-election bid.

“I told them if you want to work for President Tinubu and if they don’t want to, nobody is quarrelling with them. So nobody is forcing them. It is a free world,” he concluded.

It would be recalled that five lawmakers from Osun recently defected from PDP to All Progressives Congress (APC).

They are Sen. Olubiyi Fadeyi representing Osun Central Senatorial District; Rep Omirin Olusanya who represents Atakumosa East/West and Ilesa East/West Federal Constituency and Rep Taofeek Ajilesoro representing Ife Central/East/North and South Federal Constituency.

Others include Rep Oluwole Oke who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency and Sen. Fadahunsi.

 

— 2025 Council Executives Now Fully Vindicated

FLOWERBUDNEWS:  The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has upheld the sack of the APC’s factional “Yes/No” chairmen and nullified the controversial 2022 local government elections held under the previous administration.

The rulings have been officially confirmed by key government officials including Kolapo Alimi, the Osun State Commissioner for Information, and Malam Olawale Rasheed, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, who described the judgment as a vindication of the state’s legal and democratic position.

Malam Rasheed, in a widely shared broadcast message, stated:

“Appeal Court Sustains Sack of APC Yes/No Chairmen. Let’s share this as widely as possible.”

The Court’s decision brings final closure to the leadership crisis within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, where rival factions have engaged in legal warfare over the legitimacy of parallel congresses conducted in 2021. The appellate court dismissed the APC’s appeal and upheld the ruling that voided the 2022 LG elections, affirming that there were indeed vacancies in the local government offices as of February 2025.

In a formal broadcast issued today, Hashim Abioye, Esq., Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), stated:

“The Court of Appeal… reaffirmed that the local government election conducted by this Commission in 2022 under the immediate past administration was null and void. The acclaimed beneficiaries… benefitted nothing.”

Abioye revealed how the AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, and Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, had wrongly interpreted an earlier court ruling and attempted to sabotage the February 22, 2025 elections by sealing the OSSIEC office, issuing threats, and facilitating arrests of Commission staff.

“The AGF and the IGP ignored a subsisting decision of the Court of Appeal and a valid Osun High Court judgment which confirmed that vacancies existed,” Abioye said. “Their actions were a gross derision of the rule of law.”

Despite those challenges, OSSIEC proceeded with the election, issuing Certificates of Return to winners who were subsequently sworn in. Today’s judgment, according to Abioye, “validates the process and outcome” of that election.

He warned the public and government institutions:

“Only the winners of the 2025 local government elections who have been duly sworn in are the legitimate officials. Dealing with any other persons is an aberration and a big risk. This is a caveat emptor.”

Calling for public apologies from the AGF and IGP, Abioye emphasized the need for advice and directives to be grounded in law and good conscience.

The dual ruling from the Court of Appeal marks a critical turning point in Osun’s local governance structure, clearing the air of legal ambiguity and setting a new tone for electoral integrity and institutional resilience in the state.



 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced dates for the conduct of the off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Ogun States.

 INEC in a statement on Friday, announced July 20th 2026, for the Ekiti State governorship election, while the Osun State governorship election is slated for August 8th, 2026.

Details later…

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has tackled Governor Ademola Adeleke over the recently constructed road in Aduramigba community, Ido-Osun area of the state, which was reportedly damaged by rain after completion.

The APC said in a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Olabisi, on Wednesday that it had consistently warned that the Adeleke-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration lacked the capacity to drive the development of Osun State.

It would be recalled that residents of Aduragbemi community in Ido-Osun, staged a protest last Friday after the tarred road was washed away by rainfall just one day after its completion.

The protesters had carried placards and marched through the affected area, accusing the contractor of executing substandard work and demanding the intervention of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

They had complained that the work was unacceptable as the road did not last 24 hours before the rain destroyed it.

According to the APC statement, “Osun State is currently undergoing one of its most precarious moments in history.

“The state’s developmental progress has suffered tremendously under the minimalist and ineffective administration of Governor Adeleke for over two years now.”

It said that nearly every sector in the state has felt the impact of allegedly vindictive and incompetent approach to governance, asserting that “one cannot give what he does not have.”

“If Governor Adeleke isn’t undermining the judiciary — as seen in his unconstitutional attempt to remove the Chief Judge of the state — he’s disrespecting traditional rulers, as witnessed in his mismanagement of the enthronement disputes in Ikirun, Iree, and Igbajo, which the courts are now reversing,” Olabisi said.

According to the APC, the road from the Trade Fair Complex to Ido-Osun Junction through Adeleke Estate and Aduramigba, was tarred on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, but was washed away after rainfall on Thursday, May 15, 2025.

“It is disheartening that such a critical project was executed using laterite instead of the approved stone base, revealing the level of substandard practices under this administration,” Olabisi said.

He called on the state government to reveal the identity of the contractor, investigate the incident, and ensure that proper reconstruction is carried out using standard materials.

The APC urged Osun residents to be cautious of ongoing government projects, warning that the use of substandard materials and incompetent contractors could pose serious risks to lives and property.

“We have been proven right in our earlier claims that contracts for major infrastructure projects were awarded to unqualified individuals, including fertiliser dealers, who have no expertise in construction,” the statement said.

It had been reported that Governor Adeleke directed a probe into the alleged shoddy execution of the road project in the Aduramigba Community, Ido-Osun area of the state.

Adeleke’s directive came after members of the community held a peaceful protest on Friday over the quality of work done on the 4.76-kilometre road that passes through the area.