The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians and the International Community to hold the Nigerian Police responsible for the breakdown of law and order in the state, noting that the Police has clearly abandoned its role of maintaining peace and security by enabling the illegal takeover of councils by people unknown to the law.
The PDP in a statement signed by its Chairman, Hon. Sunday Bisi, expressed concern on the conducts of the Police since the local governments crisis broke out in Osun state in February 2025, which betrayed the role envisaged for it by the Constitution and the enabling laws, pointing out that the Police has totally lost its ability to maintain law and order in Osun state due to its open partisanship.
Hon. Bisi accused the Police of aiding an illegal scheme to foist people who have no legal claims to the councils and make governance at the grassroot practically impossible, warning that the ongoing impasse in Osun councils is a big assault on the rights of the people to choose who leads them and will be vehemently resisted.
“Policing, anywhere, is about safeguarding laws and order, but the experience in Osun state with the Nigerian Police is quite bizarre since February 2025. The excuse used by the Nigerian Police initially to justify guarding people already sacked by the courts was the one-sided advisory given by the Attorney-General of the Federation because it ignored the fact of the judgement in the suit filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) which invalidated the YES or NO election, which was later affirmed by two Appeal Court decisions,” Hon. Bisi noted.
“Curiously, the advisory plainly indicated that the tenure of the YES or NO, not minding the existence of subsisting judgement in another case, terminates in October 2025. So, what will the Police be relying as the basis for allowing the YES or NO access to the councils today when NULGE officials resumed to work?
“Perhaps, it is important that the Nigerian Police belongs to Nigerians, irrespective of their faiths or partisan persuasions, and what should drive its operation should be the laws. As at today, the YES or NO officials have no legal standings to be anywhere near the local government secretariats not to talk of gaining access to the premises.
“While it is correct that they have filed a suit to seek tenure elongation, mere filing of suit doesn’t confer any legal benefits and the Nigerian Police as law enforcement agency should be aware of this. In fact, the application filed by the YES or NO in its tenure elongation suit for the court to allow it continue in office pending the determination of the suit is not yet heard because they refused to serve court processes on the listed defendants in line with its delay tactics to hold on to the councils as several legal precedents showed the suit will fail.”
Hon. Bisi asked the Police to refrain from presenting itself as an arm of the APC and instead commit itself to activities that will promote peace and stability, saying that its members stayed away from the council secretariats out of respect for the directive issued by the law enforcement agency and not out of cowardice.
“If the Nigerian Police is aiding the disregard for its own directive, it is simply encouraging disorderliness. Forcefully taking over power is alien to democracy and even motor garage that are used to such practice in the past, has moved away from it,” he stressed.
“As a law abiding party, we will not hesitate to employ every legal means, including petitioning International Community, if the unprofessional conducts of the Police fail to abate. Our interest remains that the rule of laws must prevail not the rule of gangsterism, which is what the APC is exploring.”
