Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has dismissed allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he bribed leaders of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), describing the claim as baseless and an attack on democratic institutions.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor said the APC’s accusations were “false, unfounded, and another attempt to undermine the rule of law and the judiciary.”
“The level of impunity on display by the state APC constitutes a serious threat to our democratic life. The party started by falsifying a Court of Appeal judgment to claim a fake reinstatement of its court-sacked chairmen,” the statement read.
Adeleke accused the opposition of ignoring valid judgments that affirmed the legality of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen and councillors across the state’s local government areas.
“Behaving like political robbers in a lawless country, the state APC got even more emboldened to invade and occupy the council secretariats without any legal mandate. With a system that appears to pander to illegality, the opposition brazenly made to claim public funds through another layer of illegality until they were legally stopped,” he added.
The governor also faulted the APC’s alleged disregard for judicial processes, stressing that the party’s public utterances and actions “amount to open contempt of court.”
“The judiciary had waded in to set the records straight. Unfortunately, the state APC appears so bitter and so bold about its disrespect for the judiciary that it can still be debating a matter now before the highest court in the land,” Adeleke said.
He urged residents to disregard the APC’s allegations, maintaining that the NULGE leadership remains an independent body that does not need inducement to act responsibly.
“The fight to stop the attempted looting of the local government treasury is a collective effort of all stakeholders who need no inducement to act responsibly. The opposition has come to the end of its game; the people have resisted illegality, and the judiciary will soon make its final pronouncement,” he stated.
Earlier, the Osun APC, through its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, alleged that Governor Adeleke paid senior NULGE officials large sums of money to sustain their ongoing strike. The opposition claimed that each Head of Local Government Administration in the 69 local councils, including Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), received ₦750,000, while Directors of Administration and Finance were paid ₦500,000 each. Other directors and NULGE chairmen allegedly received ₦250,000 apiece.
“It is quite strange that a government could go so low to the extent of promoting and funding an illegal work abandonment against itself. This has led to the avoidable suffering of traditional rulers and grassroots dwellers,” Olabisi alleged.
The APC further accused the Adeleke administration of delaying local government fund disbursement and shifting blame to federal agencies, vowing that the party would reclaim the state in the next election.
“Our soothing balm as a party is that this current government is tenured, and it will end by 27th November 2026. The APC will return to restore the lost glory of the state,” Olabisi said.
He also condemned NULGE leaders for allegedly betraying their members, claiming that many retirees had missed their entitlements due to the prolonged strike.
