The governor met the President to discuss a way out of the local government crisis… and to request a soft landing in next year’s election
One of Adeleke’s senior aides, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on Friday, revealed that the governor met Tinubu as part of efforts to find a political solution to the ongoing local government crisis in the state.
Governance has been paralysed in the 31 LGs due to workers’ withdrawal of service amid the dispute over control of councils between the PDP and APC.
The PDP and APC have been contesting control of the LGs following an Akure Appeal Court judgment, which the APC claimed reinstated the sacked chairmen and councillors elected on October 15, 2022.
The state government and the PDP, however, maintained that the court did not rule in APC’s favour, as the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission held a fresh election on February 21, 2025, resulting in a new set of LG officials.
In the aftermath, six people, including the reinstated council chairman of Irewole Local Government Area, Remi Abbas, were killed.
While the APC-reinstated chairmen took control of the LGs across the state, workers continued to stay away.
The situation arose because the Federal Government withheld allocations for February, March, and April.
Adeleke’s aide said, “The governor met the President to discuss a way out of the local government crisis in the state and to request a soft landing in next year’s local government election. Those were the topics of their discussion.”
Corroborating the adviser’s statement, another senior special assistant, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The governor is not joining the APC. His visit to the President was not about joining the APC but was to ask the President to direct the Attorney General of the Federation to release the seized LG funds.
“He also declared his support for the President and requested a soft landing in the next governorship election. The governor is not afraid of the election; he just wants a level playing field and a fair contest.”