The Special Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, has accused Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, of propaganda, falsehood, and deliberate misinformation aimed at concealing what he described as administrative failure and disregard for judicial authority.
Akinola, in a statement, said recent outbursts by Governor Adeleke over the alleged withholding of local government funds were a desperate attempt to divert attention from what he termed glaring incompetence and serial abuse of the judicial process.
He dismissed claims that Oyetola was responsible for any disruption in local government financing, insisting that if there were delays or complications in fund disbursement, the responsibility rested squarely with the Adeleke-led Osun State Government.
According to him, the state government had inundated the courts with frivolous and ill-conceived lawsuits in a failed attempt to overturn settled judicial decisions.
“No serious government sabotages its own legal standing and then seeks scapegoats for the consequences,” Akinola said.
He further accused Adeleke of previously paralysing local government administration in the state by instigating a prolonged strike by local government workers.
Akinola described the governor’s current claim that councils remained grounded as a blatant falsehood.
“The local government secretariats are open and functioning. Services continue, workers are back at their posts, and council administrations are carrying out their statutory responsibilities.
“The narrative of paralysis exists only in the imagination of a governor using falsehood to seek public sympathy,” he stated.
Akinola also referenced a Court of Appeal judgement delivered on February 10, 2025, which he said reinstated elected local government chairmen in Osun State. He noted that the judgement was not appealed by the Osun State Government and therefore remains final and binding.
“The continued agitation by Governor Adeleke represents a deliberate refusal to accept judicial authority,” he claimed.
On the tenure of the reinstated chairmen, the minister’s aide maintained that they were elected for a three-year term but were allegedly removed illegally within weeks of assuming office. Any contrary claim, he argued, amounted to ignorance or intentional misinformation, adding that the matter of tenure is now before the courts.
Akinola further cited a Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2024, granting financial autonomy to local governments nationwide. He said the ruling affirmed local governments as an independent tier of government and prohibited state governors from dissolving elected councils or imposing caretaker administrations.
“Adeleke should perish the thought of interfering with local government administration in Osun State. The councils are autonomous, lawful, and operational,” he stated.
He also rejected allegations that Minister Oyetola was directing or influencing the Nigeria Police, describing such claims as false, inflammatory, and irresponsible.
“The police operate under established institutional command structures and cannot be privately controlled by any individual minister.
“Adeleke should stop misleading the public, stop manufacturing conspiracies, and stop whipping up sentiment to cover manifest ineptitude. Governance is not theatre, and Osun people deserve facts, not fiction,” Akinola said.
He said that Osun’s local government administrations are “lawful, autonomous, functional, and protected by binding court judgements,” adding that “the only crisis facing the system is a governor unwilling to accept legal reality.”
