By Osun, Nigeria – The thirty (30) Local Government Areas in Osun State have been shut down since February 17, 2025, for 170 days. The workers in these local government areas have stayed away from work since then, following a directive from the Osun State President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe. The directive was issued during a tussle for local government control between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
The violence in February led to the deaths of at least six individuals, including Remi Abbas, the APC-elected chairman of Irewole Local Government. While the LG chairmen backed by the APC have assumed control of the secretariats, the absence of civil servants has stalled operations in all LGAs.
On Wednesday, August 6, a civil society organisation, Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development (IICSD), lamented the crippling of governance at the grassroots level in a press statement. According to the organisation, the shutdown has denied citizens, especially young people and rural dwellers, access to vital services at council secretariats and other local government offices, with funds meant for community development allegedly seized due to political wrangling.
The organisation also expressed concern over the rising tension and the political struggle surrounding the local government crisis. It noted that this has led to several deaths linked to the struggle for power. Furthermore, it warned that this prolonged shutdown poses a serious threat to the future of the state. In addition, the group appealed to traditional rulers, religious leaders, and the federal government to intervene and allow governance to return to the grassroots.
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In an interview with Chris Ezemenari, a political analyst, he explained that “Politics exists because people disagree about how they should live, who should get what, and how power and other resources should be shared.” He further stated that “they also disagree on how such matters could be resolved, how collective decisions should be made, who should have a say, how much influence each person should have, and Aristotle made this the master science of politics.”
He explained that the total shutdown of local governments in Osun State for the past 170 days is purely undemocratic and a political shenanigan built on selfish interests as well as political writ rather than the dividends of democracy. He said, “Governor Adeleke of Osun State has ordered the total shutdown due to the forceful takeover of the secretariats by APC chairmen and councillors who claimed that the court judgement reinstated them.”
He added that this directive came after a landmark judgement by the apex court, which granted autonomy to local governments and direct payment of local government allocations from the federation account. He said, “The Governor, in his press conference, stated that the APC-elected chairmen and councillors were nullified by a competent court even before his inauguration as Governor, and he went ahead to announce the fresh conduct of local government elections in the state in order to ensure that the state receives its statutory allocation from the federal government. The Governor maintained that the forceful takeover of local government secretariats was orchestrated by his predecessor.”
Chris explained further that “the Governor, in his press conference, also ordered the immediate total shutdown of all the local government secretariats in compliance with the appellate court judgement in the state, which nullified the elections of the local government chairmen and councillors.”
He stated that after the conduct of the local government elections by the Osun State Electoral Commission, the ruling party in the state, PDP, cleared all the chairmanship and councillorship seats but was not allowed to take over the secretariats after their inauguration. Governor Adeleke, during the inauguration of the newly elected local government chairmen, charged them to preside over the secretariats from anywhere pending the outcome of the court judgement filed by the APC chairmen challenging the total shutdown of the secretariats.
Chris added that “with the current political pandemonium in the state, it is visible to the blind that local government, which is the grassroots government for the masses, is not functioning in Osun State, and people are being denied their democratic dividends.” He further mentioned that workers in the Osun State local government secretariats have been shut out of their daily responsibilities due to the closure of the secretariats.
He concluded by saying, “The closure of the Osun State local government secretariats is a result of the political squabble between the ruling party in the country, APC, and the opposition party, PDP, which is the ruling party in the state. This political writ has crippled the activities of local government workers in the state since both the incumbent Governor and his predecessor championed the undemocratic struggle over who controls the local government secretariats.”
