…..Proposed State-Backed Protest Over Local Government Allocations Is Politically Motivated and Risks Pushing Osun Into an Avoidable Crisis
By *SALAM MUSTAPHA OLAMILEKAN*
(1st February 2026)
What is happening in Osun State today goes far beyond normal political disagreement. It is a calculated drift toward tension and disorder, driven by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s refusal to fully respect the rule of law and constitutional process.
By politicising local government administration and exploiting a sensitive federal issue, the Adeleke administration is steering Osun toward unnecessary instability.
The controversy surrounding local government allocations has been deliberately twisted to hide the real issue: a state government that prefers confrontation to compliance, agitation to governance, and propaganda to responsibility.
No responsible government encourages street pressure, civil unrest, or threats to “storm” public institutions. Yet this is the atmosphere that has been allowed to grow under Governor Adeleke’s watch. A governor who tolerates—or silently applauds—such rhetoric risks gambling with public peace.
The law is not a buffet. Governor Adeleke cannot celebrate court judgments when they suit him and ignore them when they do not.
The same judiciary he now cites against the Federal Government is the judiciary whose rulings he disregarded in 2022 when elected local government councils were dissolved. You cannot tear down the house of law yesterday and seek shelter under it today.
This pattern of selective obedience weakens the moral credibility of the current outrage and exposes it as politically convenient rather than principled.
Rather than pursuing calm, institutional engagement, the Adeleke administration appears comfortable outsourcing governance to agitation.
By allowing incendiary rhetoric, tolerating threats of mass action, and presenting Osun as a battleground against the Federal Government, the state government is putting lives, businesses, and public assets at risk. Once the language of force replaces the language of law, control is easily lost.
Despite claims of standing with the masses, it is ordinary Osun residents who will suffer most if instability takes hold. Investors flee tense environments. Civil servants become pawns. Traders, artisans, retirees, and small business owners bear the cost of political brinkmanship.
Real leadership calms tensions. It does not inflame them.
Real leadership seeks lawful solutions, not mob approval.
By turning a constitutional dispute into a partisan confrontation, Governor Adeleke is setting a dangerous precedent for Osun State and Nigeria’s democracy. If every disagreement with federal authorities is met with street pressure and threats of disruption, constitutional governance gives way to chaos.
Governor Adeleke must pause and reflect. Osun State is bigger than any party interest or personal grievance. Power is temporary, but the damage caused by disorder can last for generations.
Osun needs peace.
Osun needs stability.
Osun needs leadership rooted in law, restraint, and responsibility.
Anything less is an invitation to trouble.
*SALAM MUSTAPHA OLAMILEKAN*
Public Affairs Analyst
Chairman, Integrity Group of Nigeria,
Osun State Chapter
