By Oluwatosin Babatunde
Let’s call this what it is: political hostage-taking, dressed in constitutional robes.
For three straight months, Osun’s 30 local government councils have been deliberately strangled not by economic reality but by political revenge. The Federal Government, dancing to the tune of a desperate APC establishment, has withheld allocations simply because it lost control of the grassroots. In 2025, democracy in Nigeria still dies at the altar of ego.
Enter Governor Ademola Adeleke the man mocked as a dancing politician. While the APC threw tantrums, locked secretariats, and begged for a state of emergency, Adeleke kept quiet and did the one thing his critics thought he couldn’t: he paid. Salaries, pensions, wage awards. In full.
While federal channels froze, Osun’s workers didn’t. That’s not luck it’s leadership. It’s a governor saying: “My people come first, politics be damned.”
Let’s rewind.
In February, Adeleke conducted LG elections. The APC cried foul, citing a court order that had reinstated its previously sacked chairmen. But rather than test the law in court or contest the elections properly the APC ran to Abuja and lobbied for federal allocations to be withheld. That’s not democratic resistance. That’s sabotage.
Then came the drama: APC chairmen physically took over LG secretariats, declared council accounts frozen, and demanded recognition. They weren’t acting like public servants they were acting like political warlords.
Meanwhile, Adeleke appealed to institutions writing to the AGF, the CBN, and the Auditor-General to recognize the duly elected officials. His opponents mocked the move. But when payday came and workers still got paid, the mocking stopped.
This isn’t just a story about salary. It’s a showdown over who truly governs Osun: elected state authorities or federally connected party men pulling strings from Abuja?
Let’s be real. The same APC that overthrew local democracy in multiple states now wants to lecture Adeleke about constitutionalism? The same party that ignored court rulings for years now hides behind one to justify starving LGs?
The hypocrisy would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious.
Osun is now a test case perhaps the most important since the return to civilian rule in 1999 of whether local government in Nigeria can ever be truly autonomous. The APC wants to run Osun by proxy. Adeleke says no. And for once, a governor is not just talking he’s backing his stand with action.
In a time when governors blame Abuja for everything, Adeleke found a way to pay workers without a kobo from the federal government. That’s more than a fiscal statement it’s a political message.
So here’s the verdict: in the Osun LG crisis, Abuja played politics. Adeleke paid salaries.
And history, no matter how slowly, always knows who stood with the people.
Oluwatosin Babatunde is a journalist and political commentator. He writes from Ilorin, Kwara State.
