The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has launched a scathing attack on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, accusing him of abuse of office regarding the seizure of local government allocations to the state.

In a statement released on Monday by Olaleke Bamiji, the Osun PDP Media Director, the party described Fagbemi's actions as a "dangerous erosion of the doctrine of separation of power" and called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene.

The PDP argued that Fagbemi, who previously served as lead counsel to former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, should have recused himself from matters affecting Osun State's political landscape. "The act is not only ultra vires but also a subversion of the rule of law," the statement read.

The party further alleged that the directive to halt disbursement of funds to democratically elected local governments in Osun lacked judicial backing, describing it as "fiscal strangulation" and "a calculated attempt to undermine good governance" in the state.

APC Responds to Allegations

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State swiftly countered these claims, urging the public to disregard the PDP's statements. Kola Olabisi, the APC's Director of Media and Information, accused Governor Ademola Adeleke's administration of subjecting "millions of people at the grassroots to avoidable hardship."

"The PDP government is so desperate that it has subjected millions of people at the grassroots to avoidable hardship by ensuring that workers at this level don't go to work since 16th February 2025 all in quest to frustrate the APC from reaping the fruits of her success from court," Olabisi stated.

The APC praised the Federal Government's decision to withhold the local government allocations, describing it as standing "with the rule of law as opposed to the rule of lobby which the PDP-led government has been doing."

Local Government Administration Dispute

At the heart of this political confrontation is the control of local government administration in Osun State. The PDP claims its candidates won the February 22, 2025 local government polls, while the APC maintains that the Appeal Court sitting in Akure has reinstated its council officials who won the October 15, 2022 local government election organized during former Governor Oyetola's administration.

According to reports, the Osun State Government has approached the Supreme Court to intervene in the seized local government allocation matter.

The APC also accused the PDP-led government of instituting "over seven lawsuits to seek by subterfuge reliefs to overrule the Court of Appeal judgment" and approaching the Supreme Court "over the same deceit designed to rubbish the judgment."

This ongoing dispute highlights the intense political rivalry in Osun State and raises questions about the independence of local government administration in Nigeria's federal system.