Tenure Elongation: APC lawyers on the run from court proceedings- Osun Gov't

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• Case adjourns to 4th March, 2026

Osun State Government has described as unfortunate the way and manner the Osun State chapter of APC is unduly and deliberately carrying out actions and inactions that have been causing continued logjam in the state local government imbroglio.

This is contained in a press statement issued by the Commissioner for information and public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi in an apparent reaction to the suit for tenure elongation filed by the APC which came up for hearing today at the Federal High Court, Osogbo.

“All their lawyers comprising three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) were conspicuously absent in court when the matter came up for hearing today.

“It would be recalled that the much embattled Osun State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in order to perpetrate their frauds under the guise of self-awarded tenure, approached the Federal High court Osogbo, for tenure elongation. Instead of waiting for the outcome of the case filed, they are still occupying our Council Secretariats, claiming that they have right to continue to occupy the local Government Secretariats because they have filed a suit for tenure elongation at the FHC, Osogbo.

“However, when the case came up for hearing today before the Federal High Court, none of the ten lawyers they listed in their court processes were in court. Alimi’s reaction to today’s court proceedings read in part;

“I wish to unequivocally restate for the umpteenth time, that, it is quite clear that the election conducted on 15th October, 2022 by the then APC-led government in Osun state under the leadership of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola was not only illegal but also against the Electoral Act. This development, was the reason why the Federal High Court, Osogbo, was approached to get it nullified and same was outrightly nullified.

“However, in order to continue to carry on with their known mischiefs to lay claim to an illegal power, they ( APC) have been twisting the judgments of February 10, 2025 and June 13, 2025 claiming that they have been reinstated. However, reverse is clearly the case in the eyes of the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the court already nullified their purported election.

“It is in the public domain, that, in order to carry on with their illegality, they claimed they filed a case at the Federal High Court in Osogbo for tenure elongation but today they ran away from the same case. They even mischievously claim that they are not asking for tenure elongation but tenure determination. This is clearly a bizarre!

“We want the public to know that when they (APC) filed the case, they were supposed to have mobilised the bailiff of the court to go and serve the court processes but deliberately they to do so. Instead, it was the counsel to Osun state Government who mobilized the bailiff to Abuja to go and serve all the processes on the remaining defendants. Who is then guilty of undue delay?

“When the matter came up for hearing today, Wednesday ,28th day of Jan 2026, despite the fact that they listed 10 lawyers, 3 of whom are Senior Advocates of Nigeria ( SAN), it was a thing of shock and disappointment today due to their own way of causing delay for the case, all their lawyers feigned different excuses in a letter to the court that they all had cases and that none of them could get chance to appear before the court of law for the hearing of the long awaited matter which they are touting as the basis of their illegal stay in the council secretariats. The case consequently got adjourned to the 4th day of March, 2026.

“We are putting this before the public to further bring to the fore the usual shenanigans and antics of the APC in Osun State led by Alh Gboyega Oyetola, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy so that the local governments imbroglio being experienced in the state for almost one year now would not be resolved once and for all, hence their resort to delay tactics.

“It is quite unfortunate that the APC that filed a suit in the first instance for tenure elongation is still the same APC that abandoned the case so that the delay will aid them to continue to unleash havoc and brigandage in Osun Local Governments. They falsely accused Governor Adeleke of filing frivolous cases to frustrate them when in actual fact, they are the saboteurs. They claimed local government funds are not being withheld by the Federal Government but can’t explain where the funds are and how they have been spending same. This further confirms their desperate plan to divert public funds to their private political pockets, relying on federal powers and influence of Alh. Gboyega Oyetola.

“We are therefore using this medium to call on all stakeholders in Osun, Nigeria and the world at large to come to the rescue of the government and good people of Osun State so as to let APC and their cohorts to stop forthwith all these acts of lawlessness, which at best, negates the whole essence of democracy with which they are illegally laying claim to the leadership of the third tier of government in a state known for peace and tranquility” the statement noted.