A Pan-Political group based in Osogbo, Osun State, Dee Osun Monitors, has called on the Nigerian Bar Association to take concrete actions over the continued withholding of the allocation due to local governments in the state.
The group said there is a need for the leadership of the NBA to follow up on its earlier efforts and advice to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on the issue, noting that the people of the state were the ones bearing the brunt of the withholding of the allocations since February, 2025.
The convener of the group, Prince Jide Akinyooye while addressing newsmen on Thursday in Osogbo, said the NBA had in a letter in August 2025, addressed to Fagbemi, urged the federal government to release the local government allocations to the council officials elected under the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 22, 2025 election.
Akinyooye, however, said the situation was still the same, accusing the chairmen and councillors elected in the October 15, 2022 election of ‘forcefully’ occupying council secretariats in the state.
He said, “An independent review by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in August, 2025 has emphasised its view that “the withholding of allocations meant for the local governments in Osun State amounts to a violation of the Constitution, disregard for the Rule of Law and an affront on clear pronouncement of the Courts”. This
The review contradicts the deliberate misinterpretation of court judgments by Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), which has been used to justify the current naked
impunity.
“We are issuing this Save Our Souls message to the entire world. To the Nigerian Bar Association, take concrete actions to address this blatant disregard for the rule of law as a follow-up to the earlier documented efforts and advice to the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice in August, 2025.”
Speaking further, Akinyooye said the situation across all the councils in the state was disturbing, alleging that the chairmen and councillors elected in the October 15, 2022, local government election were forcefully occupying the secretariat.
“It is sad to note that the situation across all the local government areas in Osun State is scandalous and unbelievably disturbing as the Court sacked local government Chairmen and Councillors have forcefully occupied all local government areas, while bank accounts were fraudulently opened in the name of local government areas without career officers,” he noted.
The group urged President Bola Tinubu to have a rethink on the situation and allow democracy to thrive in Osun State in the interest of the public.
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“It is obvious that some politicians who are working with the President are already succeeding un abusing the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and this is capable of negatively affecting the goodwill that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has built in his efforts to defend democracy over the years.
“We are calling on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),
Social Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Human Rights Watch Africa, Amnesty International Africa, Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) International, Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
International and other independent human rights activists and organizations to rise up and demand justice for the people of Osun State.
“To the international community and defenders of democracy, take notice of this abuse of power and support the people of Osun State in their quest for democratic advancement, sustenance and justice. We urge all stakeholders to join us in calling for an end to this impunity and political banditry as a necessity to rescue the people and government of Osun State,” Akinyooye appealed.
