The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, (ALGON), Osun State Chapter under the Leadership of Hon Abiodun Samuel Idowu – Chairman Ifedayo Local Government and OSUN ALGON Chairman dismisses the falsehood being circulated by the Osun State Government and the factional National Union of Local Government Employees ( NULGE), OSUN State branch to the effect that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has paid the allocations of the 30 Local Governments in the state into private accounts of either individuals or reinstated chairmen — a claim that defies logic, common-sense and reality as there was no money paid into individual or private accounts as claimed. (CBN) is the apex bank which doesn’t allow individuals account operations.
Recall that the Court of Appeal Akure on February 10, 2025, reinstated the local government executives previously sacked by Governor Ademola Adeleke, a development that neccesitated a change in financial management of the local government structure. Since that time, the reinstated and legally recognized chairmen in our local governments and patriotic civil servants who defied the political strike action called by the Nathaniel Ogungbangbe-led factional NULGE have been interfacing with the apex bank to remove the bottlenecks imposed by the forces bent on using strike actions to ground the local government administration.
The ALGON clarifies that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s procedure for opening and activation of new accounts, for the Local Governments to accommodate the development at that level of government following the reinstatement of the APC-led chairmen, did not include providing private or personal accounts as mendaciously claimed by the Osun State Government and the factional NULGE leadership in their separate press releases, thus no basis for the CBN to pay money into private or personal accounts.
The CBN is a legal and truly professional national institution which would not engage in illegality to please any interest as construed by the Osun State officials struggling to smear and blackmail the apex bank.
Shaming a national institution like the CBN and calling the Governor of the bank unprintable names the manner Osun State Government has done in its press statement is a national embarrassment which no faithful citizen should contemplate. Again, the falsity erodes the Osun brand which hitherto is known for fairness and justice.
It is also important to state that the reckless statement of the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon Dosu Babatunde, is an insult on the integrity of the Supreme Court which in a landmark judgement delivered on July 11 2024 settled the issue of local government autonomy, echoing that the local government administration and fund disbursement are an exclusive preservation of elected local government authority without state control.
For avoidance of doubt, the judgement confirmed that the Federal Allocation to the local governments be disbursed directly to the 774 local government dedicated accounts. It is startling the Osun state government is desperate and bent to subvert the instruction of the Supreme Court.
Osun ALGON commends a section of the local government workers who stoutly declined to join the politically-motivated strike actions called by some politicians in the factional NULGE, just as the Association is using this medium to appeal to the striking workers to return to work as their service would be more beneficial when they join hands with other patriots currently discharging their duties in their different duty posts in the local governments.
Power should be sought and used as an instrumentality of service for development.
Thank you.
