Governor Adeleke Accused of Spreading False Information Over Osun LG Funding

The ongoing battle over the administration and funding of local governments in Osun State has taken a sharp turn.

Dr. Bolaji Akinola, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, has lashed out at Governor Ademola Adeleke, accusing him of using “propaganda and falsehoods” to hide his administration’s failures.

In a strongly worded statement released on Wednesday, Akinola argued that the Governor’s recent outcries over withheld council funds are merely a “desperate attempt to deflect attention from glaring incompetence and serial abuse of the judicial process.”

He maintained that the financial bottlenecks facing the councils are self-inflicted wounds caused by the state government’s own legal maneuvers.

According to the Minister’s aide, the Adeleke-led government has overwhelmed the court system with “frivolous and ill-conceived lawsuits” in a futile effort to bypass established legal rulings.

“No serious government sabotages its own legal standing and then seeks scapegoats for the consequences,” Akinola stated, dismissing claims that Oyetola was interfering with the state’s finances.

Central to the dispute is a Court of Appeal judgment from February 10, 2025, which reinstated the local government chairmen elected under the previous APC administration.

Akinola pointed out that since the state government chose not to appeal that specific ruling, it remains final and binding. He described the Governor’s refusal to recognize these officials as a “deliberate refusal to accept judicial authority.”

Addressing the Governor’s claims that the local government system has been paralyzed, Akinola labeled such assertions “a blatant falsehood.”

He further noted that the narrative of a total breakdown in governance “exists only in the imagination of a governor using falsehood to seek public sympathy.”

Akinola also reminded the state government of the July 11, 2024, Supreme Court ruling which granted full financial autonomy to local governments. He argued that this landmark decision prevents any governor from dissolving elected councils or installing caretaker committees.

Regarding the tenure of the current chairmen—which Adeleke claims has expired—Akinola stated that the matter is already before the courts and any attempt to forcefully remove them is an illegality.

The Minister’s aide didn’t stop at financial matters. He also debunked allegations that Oyetola was “weaponising” the Nigeria Police Force to intimidate the state.

He described these claims as “false, inflammatory, and irresponsible,” explaining that the police operate under a national command structure that cannot be controlled by an individual minister.

“Governance is not theatre, and Osun people deserve facts, not fiction,” Akinola concluded, insisting that the only real crisis in the state is a leadership unwilling to face legal reality.

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