Osun APC and the audacity of illegality By ’Gbenga Ogunremi

Osun APC and the audacity of illegality

By ’Gbenga Ogunremi

There is a story, the driving force behind this intended narrative about the audacious lawlessness of the Osun State APC that must be told in order to put into perspective the underlying factors, events, deceptions, truths, among others, that preceded certain illegalities and the attendant consequences of a desperate plot to return to power at any cost and by implication, take Osun back to Egypt.

The story behind the story is indeed a short trip down memory lane filled with bittersweet emotions…

The greatest misuse of power is to leave people the same or worse than you met them, is a famous leadership failure aphorism that aptly describes the 12 years of APC government of movement without motion maladministration in Osun State between 2010 and 2022.

For twelve dark years, Osun was in a state of sustained underdevelopment typified by a season of intense hardship, a season when people felt caged in a dark tunnel where the light at the end of it seemed unreachable or even non-existent; when a reliable three square meals felt distant and unattainable; when derelict and abandoned infrastructure which significantly stalled growth and economic development adorned everywhere across the state; when modular and half salary schemes subjected public servants to untold hardship; when pensioners were dying of hunger in droves for lack of subsistent upkeep allowances; when women, traders, the youth, artisans, and the man on the street lacked necessary resources to maintain a minimum standard of living; all thanks to the successive APC misgovernment superintended by Rauf Aregbesola and Adegboyega Oyetola.

Their lack of empathy, unclear vision, unmet promises and non-inclusive system of administration left a great deal to be desired. And because there was a profound disconnect between government and the people, governance was largely characterised by misplaced priorities to the detriment of the people’s welfare and general well-being. Government policies were mostly incongruous with reason, never in tandem with daily realities and general public needs. Annoying memories of impracticable, unsustainable and wasteful beautification and Opon Imo projects that ate deep into the state’s scarce resources remain rent-free in our heads.

All these APC government shenanigans undoubtedly heightened systemic oppression of citizens and residents, and which expectedly fuelled people’s desire for change and the determination to embrace light, the only solution to the darkness that had engulfed Osun State for so long.

Then light finally came [Imole de]. By way of divine compensation for the locust years, Osun people overwhelmingly voted Ademola Adeleke, an intentional leader with a deep sense of purpose as the fifth democratically elected governor of Osun State.

His emergence no doubt opened the pathway for the redemption of Osun people. It was a new dawn that focused on people-centred policies and projects aimed at reversing the years of neglect, enhancing wellbeing, fostering personal growth and ultimately setting the people free from the poverty trap of the defunct APC government in the state.

For Adeleke, the needs, values and wellbeing of communities and individuals were top priority and marked by bold decisions, resilience and commitment to excellence, he has remained faithful to his promises of rapid infrastructural development, improved workers’ welfare and robust grassroots development despite significant headwinds like the huge financial burden of a 30-month salary and pension backlog, immense infrastructure deficit and lately the local council imbroglio and withheld council funds.

Yes, true to form, the governor is obsessed with singing and dancing animatedly at social, political and even formal gatherings, yet his performance in office in the last three years has been outstanding, achieving much more than what the APC governors could achieve in 12 years. In fact, going by verifiable and incontrovertible reports, Adeleke has been quite exceptional in the high-quality delivery of impactful services to the delight of the vast majority in Osun state, especially the grassroots people. For them, the name Ademola Adeleke is good music to the ears; it hits the right chords in them and they are without reservation entirely in one ACCORD with the governor for continuity of his unprecedentedly outstanding performance in the state.

So, when I read a recent remark credited to former governor Oyetola, saying that they will reclaim Osun and return it to serious, people-focused governance; I had a good laugh at the entitlement mentality of a deposed monarch and his descendants who were given a chance of a lifetime to provide purposeful leadership but failed woefully.

Adeleke’s soaring popularity is no doubt of extreme worry for the Osun APC, a throbbing headache that left them with no option but to desperately seek to ‘seize’ power by all means, leveraging the lingering tempestuous local council crisis initiated by them as a veritable backdoor avenue to power by way of ramping up all forms of illegality to achieve their aim of causing havoc that would lead to a general breakdown of law and order and an eventual state of emergency declaration.

On the dictates of this absurd game plan and emboldened by the Nigeria Police and other powers that be, these APC local government officials whose elections were nullified by the Osogbo High Court in November 2022, affirmed by the Appeal Court in February 2025 and again in June 2025, still went ahead to illegally occupy local council secretariats across the state on the strength of a deliberately deceptive interpretation of court pronouncements. Even when their so-called tenure ended in October last year, this willful bunch of pretenders to the throne refused to vacate office but stayed put seeking tenure elongation, an illegal act alien to constitutional provisions and indeed a huge mockery of our fledgling democracy. It is in fact a settled matter going by Supreme Court pronouncements on such matters.

Further to this, over N230bn Osun local government statutory allocations have been withheld since February 2025, again an illegal act which the Supreme Court itself acknowledged recently as a wrong move by the federal government.

All these lingering acts of illegality are nothing short of an inversion of justice where criminals are treated like victims or better still, where misconduct is justified and integrity punished. In their reckless scramble for power and not minding the consequences, they have paralysed grassroots governance and stalled service delivery across Osun communities. According to a media report, the lingering crisis is taking its toll on workers and pensioners; many businesses are reportedly gasping for breath; markets are shrinking because of low purchasing power while most of the communities are sinking deeper into poverty and neglect.

This was why Governor Adeleke in a recent statewide broadcast, lampooned the nefarious anti-people activities of the APC and at the same time passionately appealed to his predecessor Oyetola and his cohorts to let Osun breath, to prioritise the welfare of citizens over partisan interests. This is no more politics but man’s inhumanity to man, the governor concluded.

●Ogunremi is a former Press Secretary to Osun State government.