Osun Government Redeploys Council Administrators As LG Funding Crisis Deepens

The Osun State Government has redeployed senior local government administrators across the state amid an escalating dispute over control of councils and the alleged withholding of more than ₦130 billion in statutory allocations to local governments. The reshuffle, which affects five Heads of Local Government Administration, HLAs, comes as the state battles a protracted political and legal confrontation with the All Progressives Congress, APC, over the tenure and legitimacy of council executives.

In a circular dated 26 January 2026 and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Osun Local Government Service Commission, Mudashir Oyedeji, the commission ordered the immediate deployment of the affected HLAs to new duty posts. “I wish to inform you that the Local Government Service Commission has approved the deployment of the underlisted Heads of Local Government,” the circular stated, directing the officers “to resume duties with immediate effect.”

Those redeployed include Yakubu Adekunle Oni, moved from Irewole North East Local Council Development Area, LCDA, to Boripe Local Government, as well as Bolaji Wasiu Ayoola, Emmanuel Oluwole Ademokoya, Adebisi Lateef Kayode and Isaac Tope Akinwumi, who were all transferred from various LCDAs to full-fledged local government councils or different administrative units. The commission did not clarify the status of officials currently manning the councils to which the new HLAs have been posted.

The redeployment is unfolding against a backdrop of intense controversy over local government funding and control in Osun. Governor Ademola Adeleke has repeatedly accused sacked APC chairmen and councillors of “illegally occupying” council secretariats despite court judgements that, according to him, nullified their mandate and ended their tenure. “I did not remove these APC chairmen and councillors from office; the court did. Since then, they have had no lawful mandate whatsoever,” Adeleke said in a recent statewide broadcast, insisting they “have refused to vacate the secretariats.”

The governor also alleges that statutory federal allocations meant for Osun’s local governments have been blocked since February 2025, claiming that the withheld funds now stand at about ₦130 billion. He warns that the seizure has deepened financial pressure on primary school teachers, health workers, council staff and pensioners whose remuneration depends largely on the councils’ statutory income.