The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of colluding with the leadership of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to sustain a sympathy strike that has crippled grassroots governance across the state.

The party insisted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be blamed for the withheld Local Government allocations.

In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the APC alleged that some interest groups were deliberately misdirecting public anger toward Tinubu over councils’ inability to access funds.

APC argued that the blame should instead be placed squarely on Governor Adeleke, who it said was preventing NULGE workers from resuming duties across the councils.

The party stressed that there are duly elected chairmen and councillors in all local government areas of the state by virtue of the Court of Appeal judgment of February 10, 2025, which reinstated APC’s council executives.

According to the APC, rather than allow the councils to function and access their allocations, Adeleke has allegedly been working with NULGE leaders to sustain a sympathy protest that has paralysed grassroots administration.

“Must Governor Adeleke be playing politics with everything without thinking of the untoward effects it would have on the people?

“What could be the rationale behind a state chief executive sponsoring a strike of the council workers against his own government for selfish reasons, knowing that such a protest would hurt ordinary people at the grassroots?” the party queried.

The APC described Adeleke’s alleged actions as “an act of wickedness and lack of empathy,” noting that ordinary citizens were the worst affected by the crisis over withheld LG allocations.

It added that the governor’s stance was also affecting traditional rulers, who have been unable to receive their statutory allowances and salaries since no local government workers were available to process payments.

“For the sake of the royal fathers and the general public, Governor Adeleke should sheathe his sword and allow NULGE to end the sympathy strike so that governance can resume at the grassroots,” the statement concluded.