Amid the protracted crisis rocking local government administration in Osun State, some reinstated council chairmen of the All Progressives Congress have dragged the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of Police, and the state government to court, seeking judicial backing to remain in office beyond October 2025.
The embattled officials, led by Saheed Onibonokuta, were elected in October 2022 but sacked by Governor Ademola Adeleke following a Federal High Court judgment nullifying their election. However, the Court of Appeal restored them to office in February 2025.
Their return coincided with the swearing-in of another set of council executives produced by the Peoples Democratic Party after the February 22 local government elections, deepening the battle for control of the councils.
Since then, local government workers under the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees have downed tools, while federal allocations to councils remain in limbo.
In a fresh suit before the Federal High Court in Osogbo (FHC/OS/CS/147/2025), their lawyer, Muhideen Adeoye, asked the court to extend their tenure until February 19, 2028, arguing that their three-year term should legally commence from February 2025 when they were sworn in, not from October 2022 when their election initially held.
The suit has as defendants the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Inspector-General of Police, Governor Adeleke, the Osun State Attorney-General, the State House of Assembly, and the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission.
The claimants insisted that the February 2025 elections conducted by OSIEC were unlawful, since their tenure had not lapsed. They further prayed the court to declare all actions taken by the PDP-led administration to install another set of chairmen as “illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.”
They also asked the court to restrain the Osun State Government and its agencies from attempting to force them out of office in October 2025 and to compel the Federal Government to provide security for them to complete their tenure.
The chairmen’s prayers include a declaration that their tenure will run till February 19, 2028, when three years would have elapsed from their eventual assumption of office.
The matter is yet to be assigned a hearing date.
