Solicitors representing the 30 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Local Government Chairmen and Councillors in Osun State have urged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice to enforce multiple court judgments affirming the legality of the February 22, 2025, election that produced their clients.

In a letter dated June 23, 2025, the lawyers accused sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) officials of illegally occupying council secretariats with federal backing, flouting judicial pronouncements, and called for urgent intervention to restore the PDP’s mandate.

The legal battle over Osun’s local government leadership began with the October 15, 2022, election conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), which produced 30 APC Chairmen and Councillors. The PDP and Action Peoples Party (APP) challenged the election’s validity in Federal High Court suits (FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 and FHC/OS/CS/103/2022), citing OSSIEC’s non-compliance with Sections 28, 29, 32, 98, and 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022, and constitutional breaches.

On November 30, 2022, the Federal High Court, Osogbo, nullified the election in the APP case, declaring it “unconstitutional, invalid, null, and void” and sacking all APC officials elected. The court also struck down Sections 25 and 26 of the OSSIEC Law, 2022, for conflicting with the Electoral Act and Constitution. The APC’s appeal (CA/AK/266M/2024) was abandoned and struck out on February 13, 2025, for lack of diligent prosecution, with a subsequent relisting application dismissed on June 13, 2025, by the Court of Appeal, Akure.

A separate PDP suit (CA/AK/270/2022) was struck out on February 10, 2025, for being prematurely filed, but the court made no order reinstating the APC officials, leaving the APP judgment as the binding authority. On February 21, 2025, the Osun State High Court, Ilesa, ordered OSSIEC to fill the resulting vacancies, leading to the February 22, 2025, election, which the PDP won, with officials sworn in on February 23, 2025.

The lawyers highlighted the Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision on June 13, 2025, in Appeal No. CA/AK/15/2025 (Allied People Movement & Ors v. Action Peoples Party & Ors), which dismissed the APC’s bid to relist its abandoned appeal. The court, led by Justice Peter Chudi Obiorah, JCA, affirmed the Federal High Court’s nullification of the APC’s election and recognized the PDP’s February 22, 2025, election as valid. Key pronouncements included:

  • “The judgment of the lower court stands as the authority defining the status of the officers of the various Local Government Councils in Osun State” (p. 16).
  • The APC election was “effectively nullified,” with officials “sacked” on November 30, 2022 (p. 32).
  • The PDP’s election “overtook the substratum of this dispute,” rendering APC’s claims moot (p. 4, per Justice Oyebisi Folayemi Omoleye, JCA).

The court criticized the APC’s “self-inflicted” failure to pursue its appeal diligently, noting that its members “went to slumber for two years” (p. 49).

The solicitors accused sacked APC officials of “brazenly flouting” court rulings by occupying council secretariats with the aid of security agencies, including the Army, Police, DSS, and NSCDC. They criticized the AGF’s March 26, 2025, directive to the Minister of Finance, which erroneously recognized the APC officials as legitimate until October 2025 and authorized their receipt of federal allocations. The letter, attached as Annexure A, is deemed “an affront” to court decisions and has allegedly emboldened the APC’s “impunity viet armis.”

The lawyers cited Supreme Court precedents, such as Nwakire v. COP (1992) and Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu (1986), condemning self-help tactics, and Section 287(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates compliance with court judgments.

The solicitors made eight urgent requests to the AGF, including:

  1. Enforce the Court of Appeal’s June 13, 2025, ruling in CA/AK/15/2025.
  2. Refrain from endorsing the sacked APC officials’ actions.
  3. Withdraw the March 26, 2025, directive recognizing APC officials.
  4. Affirm the PDP Chairmen and Councillors elected on February 22, 2025.
  5. Direct federal authorities to remit all arrears and current allocations to the PDP-led councils.
  6. Order security agencies to vacate council secretariats and protect PDP officials.
  7. Ensure compliance with court judgments to prevent breaches of peace.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/letter-to-AGF-OSUN-MATTER.pdf” title=”letter to AGF OSUN MATTER”]

As Osun awaits resolution, the dispute highlights the judiciary’s critical role in safeguarding democratic processes amidst political rivalries.

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