With the stalemate arising from the power struggle by two tendencies in Osun State over local government structures in the state, KUNLE ODEREMI reflects on the consequences on governance and issues surrounding the legal issues behind the logjam.
OSUN goes by the appellation, State of the Living Spring. Experts describe a spring as a source of filtered and fresh water with refreshing taste. It is not like the sea that is characterised by tidal waves, whirlwinds and storm. The current political scenario in Osun is akin to a storm. The buildup began long ago and became exacerbated by the controversy over local government election. Things boiled over last week at the dawn of the local council held on Saturday across the 30 local government areas of the state. At least five persons lost their lives, unspecified number of others injured, while invaluable private and public properties were destroyed in a dizzying bloodletting. It is not the belligerent forces alone that are sulking following the rage and madness; other critical stakeholders of the state are ruing and gnawing that the state is on the klieg light for a wrong reason.
Recall that about eight years ago, Osun was also the theatre of an avoidable political drama. Some forces went on the loose as preparations for the 2007 governorship election were in progress. They later resorted to self-help, in spite of the plethora of cases pending before the election petition tribunal and regular courts to adjudicate on electoral matters. It pitched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with the latter rallying forces to challenge the victory of the PDP at the general election. There were fatalities in the occasional violent clashes involving the sympathisers and supporters of the two parties. The storm eventually subsided after the battle of Titans. But who constituted the losers after the hurricane that shook not just Osun but the nation’s political landscape?
The current power struggle is over the status of local government chairmen that were relieved of their positions in 2022. The crisis degenerated following the different interpretations by vested interests in the judgment of two separate courts on matters surrounding the status of the sacked chairmen. The PDP had approached the Federal High Court, Osogbo, during the plan to hold the election that brought the chairmen to office. The other defendants in the suit were the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The argument of the plaintiff was on the ground of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022. The matter was decided by Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel on November 25, 2022 which voided the election. However, the imbroglio took a new twist by the February 10 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Akure, on which basis, the sacked APC chairmen and councilors revived their tenure.
Fallouts
Apart from the killings, maiming and destruction of property, the crisis has done a colossal damage to the psyche of the residents and other stakeholders of the state. It has apparently made the local councils apparently ungovernable due to the seeming anarchy in the air. LG workers have complied with the directive of the state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke to stay at home because of personal safety. Coupled with this worry is the climate of fear that subsists following the different interpretations of the judgments by the vested camps and the decision of the embattled chairmen to occupy the LG secretariats. The rule of the thumb rather than the rule of law appears to be the order of the day, with the debilitating effect on the psychology of the people. According to observers, the other concern is the perceived partisanship of certain critical authorities of the Nigerian State over the power play, which has created schism in the role of the judicial arm of government.
Way forward
A public affairs analyst, Dr Matthew Alugbin, found it appalling that the state should be under siege due to partisan politics and special interests. He wondered why at every election cycle, parties should choose to interpret the law to suit their interests, while citizens are caught in the crossfire. “I pity the people of Osun, especially those complicit in their own oppression, blindly supporting those who undermine their collective well-being,” he lamented. He called for an urgent need for reflection and restraint, urging political actors to emphasise governance over personal or party interests. He added: “All in Osun must recognize that the future of Osun — and indeed, the nation, depends on breaking free from this vicious cycle of manipulation and deceit. In an equitable society, power is wielded with integrity, and leadership is truly accountable to the people.”
Renowned constitutional lawyer, Professor Mike Ozekhome (SAN) gave a more in-depth on the legal jigsaw in the Osun debacle. Citing many authorities to support his arguments on the crisis, he acknowledged that the legal status of the LGCs in Osun State became a subject of intense political and judicial debate following the 2022 local government elections and leading to multiple judicial determinations, culminating in two critical Federal High Court judgments. One of them was obtained by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the other by the Action Peoples Party (APP). According to the erudite law, while both judgments invalidated the elections conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), the judgment secured by APP remains the extant, binding, and subsisting legal authority, as no superior court has set it aside. Ozekhome expressed reservations against the whiff of misinterpretations and misinformation of the judgments, noting that some claimed the recent Court of Appeal judgment reinstated the sacked local government officials. He said: “However, a critical examination of the Court of Appeal’s latest decision shows that it merely struck out the PDP’s appeal on the ground that no cause of action had arisen at the time of its filing. The position of the law in this regard is that when judgments are not to the substance of a case, they do not change the rights and liabilities of parties. Importantly, the Court of Appeal did not nullify or overturn the subsisting Federal High Court judgment granted in favour of APP, which therefore remains the authoritative and binding authority affecting the rights of the parties.
The legal luminary traced the root of the current political crisis to the conduct of the Osun local government elections in 2022 by OSSIEC. He recalled that the elections were challenged in court by the PDP and Action Peoples Party (APPP) on the basis that OSSIEC had failed to comply with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, specifically sections 28, 29, 32, 98, and 150 thereof. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Peoples Party (APP) had separately instituted legal actions at the Federal High Court, seeking to have the elections nullified. The basis of these suits was OSSIEC’s alleged non-compliance with statutory provisions and constitutional violations, he noted. “The APP’s suit was similar to the PDP suit in all respects; the only difference being that the APP’s suit was filed after the enactment of the OSSIEC Law 2022 and after the publication of the 60-day election notice by OSSIEC, as against 360 days provided by the OSSIEC Law and the Electoral Act. While both parties obtained favourable judgments, the judgment in the APP suit has become the legally binding decision, as APC’s appeal against it was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on the 13th of January, 2025, for want of diligent prosecution. This dismissal rendered the APP judgment the final and only subsisting authority on the matter,” Ozekhome averred. .
Ozekhome noted that since the Federal High Court in the APP case had expressly sacked all persons occupying the local government positions and no appellate court has reversed that judgment, all the said officials remained legally removed from office. According to him, the judgment remains binding on all parties and the whole world until set aside. He said that contrary to the position of the “sacked LG officials who had sought to forcibly gate-crash into their offices, the Court of Appeal never reinstated any sacked LG officials. It merely struck out the PDP’s case without considering or commenting on the validity or otherwise of the voided elections. Consequently, any claim that the Court of Appeal reinstated the ousted chairmen is a deliberate distortion of facts and a result to sophistry.” He added that, “Any action taken by political actors to forcefully invade and reoccupy LG offices as was witnessed few days ago is not only illegal but also constitutes a contemptuous disregard of a valid and subsisting court judgment; and indeed a resort to self-help, viet armis. The law forbids such resort to self-help by parties in a pending matter with a view to usurping the functions of a court of law.” Ozekhome warned against undermining the law of the country because of the grave implications for the society. He said the law should take its course against whoever fails to follow the due process of the law. His words: “I watched with dismay and disgust the act of certain LG officials who forcefully barged into the LG headquarters, attempting to reclaim office in the false and erroneous belief that the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the PDP case had re-instated them to their official positions, such was nothing short of brigandage and crude resort to self-help. It must be condemned in the strongest terms and I so condemn it. It was selfish and uncalled for. In the same vein, all those who aided and abetted this democratic aberration must be fished out and charged before the law courts, however highly placed they are. My above take is not to say that there is no remedy available to the sacked officials; they still have a right of appeal to the Supreme Court in the APP case. But until the Supreme Court overturns the valid and subsisting judgment in rem of the FHC in the APP case, the said judgment remains binding on all parties. The irresistible conclusion to be drawn from these events is that all LG offices across Osun State remain vacant and that the sacked APC officials cannot lay claim to the benefit of any judgment to occupy the council offices until they obtain a different outcome, if any, from the apex court. This is the LAW.”
Other concerned citizens like Senator Olu Alabi expressed worries over the breakdown of law and order that led to the loss of lives and the wanton destruction of property. He said such violence would have been avoided if the authorizes had heeded to call by Governor Adeleke for preemptive action. “Most politicians in Osun Sate have been members of my political family, either as fellow party-men, or close associates, or followers, since SDP, UNCP, and PDP days — therefore, the loss of any of them saddens my heart and very painful to me,” he said. He said the quest for political power should be devoid of brigandage and other forms of lawlessness, stressing that it was sad some elements ignored the call for peaceful conduct by politicians. “Osun State has long been known for its peaceful and harmonious political atmosphere, and the ongoing unrest is alien to the character of our dear state,” Dr Alabi stated. “Politics should never erode our collective humanity. The quest for power—whether in seeking or retaining it—should not degenerate into acts of violence, intimidation, and lawlessness. While political competition is natural in any democracy, it must be guided by decorum and adherence to the rule of law. No ambition is worth the blood of innocent citizens, and it is unacceptable for any individual or group to attempt to forcefully impose their will through violence.” He warned that the peace and stability of the state should not be compromised for any political interest. “Law enforcement agencies must act decisively to prevent further violence and ensure that those responsible for inciting unrest are held accountable.
“‘Furthermore, I urge political leaders across all divides to prioritise the collective good over personal ambition. Leadership comes with responsibility, and at no point should politicians sacrifice the security and well-being of citizens on the altar of political expediency. Political parties must caution their supporters against engaging in violent actions that endanger lives and property. The people of Osun State deserve a peaceful environment where governance and development can thrive. We must not allow divisive politics to erode the significant progress recorded under the current administration.”
Another constitutional lawyer, Mr Festus Ogun said the judgment of the Court of Appeal alone, does not howsoever justify the immediate resumption of the ousted local government executives. Ogun opined that the Court of Appeal did not determine the merit of the appeal; neither did the intermediate court make any consequential order reinstating the sacked officials. The Lagos-based lawyer said since the judgment in the APP’s case was not challenged, it remains valid. It is a painful narrative that we have to remind political actors in Osun State that a valid and subsisting judgment of a court which is not challenged or which was unsuccessfully challenged remains to be obeyed, he stressed.
The message of Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde on the crisis in Osun, also underlines the ripple effects across the board. He has called for a deeper and sober reflection on the part of the parties. He said: “We just want to peacefully deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. So, nobody should resort to self-help. Even if you have a court judgment, there is a process; let the process go through.”
But while the national leadership of the PDP is upbeat that Osun government still held the LG poll on Saturday, the APC leadership is insisting that the exercise is a nullity citing the controversial judgments surrounding the election. When two elephants fight, who suffers?
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