…Citizens may be compelled to resort to self help
The Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) is shocked, outraged, and deeply alarmed by the latest twist in the Osun State Local Government (LG) crisis—a scandal that represents a brazen, criminal assault on democracy, the rule of law, and the rights of hardworking citizens.
The Movement is perturbed to learn that court-sacked APC local government chairmen in Osun State, acting in blatant collusion with a former Governor of Osun State now Minister and the United Bank for Africa (UBA), have illegally hijacked funds released by the Federal Government meant for Osun LGs, diverting them to unelected politicians and party cronies.
Speaking, the head of the national Secretariat of the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), Veteran Olawale Okunniyi, said “this audacious act violates Osun State law, which explicitly prescribes career officials as signatories to LG accounts, yet these lawful procedures have been willfully ignored and trampled upon.”
The Movement however maintained that the consequences as reeled out below are stark and damning:
I. No local government worker in Osun has been paid in the last 12 months by the police-backed unlawful occupants of Osun State Local Governments, while their rightful salaries are stolen and misappropriated.
II. Funds meant for critical public services—schools, health centers, and local infrastructure—are being shared among court-sacked APC functionaries, whose illegitimate tenure lapsed in October last year.
III. UBA has facilitated this illegal diversion, placing its officials on the wrong side of the law. Top executives have already been arraigned, exposing the bank’s complicity in this corruption.
IV. The Osun State Government has been forced to borrow to pay local workers and keep essential services running, while the Police provide protection for unelected, illegal occupants of LG secretariats.
V. This crisis sets a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy. Unelected individuals now control public resources with impunity, threatening constitutional governance at the grassroots.
MCE demands immediate and decisive action from the President; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and calls on all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and across the world to intervene.
Okunniyi said “Let it be known: UBA and the former Governor have hijacked Osun LG funds, and the resources meant for local workers are being illegally shared by court-sacked chairmen. This is not just mismanagement—it is fraud and a deliberate assault on the foundations of democracy in Nigeria.”
The Movement for Credible Elections therefore warns that if urgent intervention is not forthcoming from the Presidency, citizens across Osun State and Nigeria may be mobilized to use every lawful means to reclaim their rights, demand accountability, and protect democracy.
