Osun State Peoples Democratic Party, on Monday, called on the European countries to impose a visa ban on the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi and the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, over their alleged role in the non-release of local government allocation for the state.
This was disclosed in a release signed by its chairman, Sunday Bisi, made available to journalists in Osogbo.
The party accused Oyetola and Fagbemi of plotting and executing the current local government crisis in the state through “deliberate disobedience of a Court of Appeal judgment recognising PDP elected chairmen and councillors and through callous withholding of local government allocations for the past five months.”
But the All Progressives Congress described the leadership of the ruling party in the state as a “bunch of jesters and unrepentant agents of misinformation and disinformation, fondly misleading the innocent members of the public in particular, the diplomatic community and the global rights groups in general, on the true story about the local government allocations in the state.”
The party, in its reaction signed by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, said Osun PDP could expose itself to the diplomatic community and the global rights groups with its false claims that the local government councils’ allocations were withheld by Fagbemi and Oyetola, when nothing of the sort had happened.
There has been a lingering crisis over local government administration in the state, with the government alleging that the Federal Government withheld allocations to the councils due to its refusal to recognise the APC-elected chairmen.
Citing legal details leading to the last Court of Appeal judgment, the PDP noted that the court upheld the legality of the PDP chairmen and councillors.
It added, “The PDP reported to the global community that the Attorney-General and the Marine and Blue Economy Minister are insisting on paying Osun local government fund to court-sacked APC chairmen.
“We found this development worrisome and an open threat to democratic governance. We call on the Western embassies and global rights community to sanction the two federal officials for actions and conduct capable of truncating democracy in Osun State,” Bisi noted.
“We seek a visa ban and other sundry punitive actions to force these federal officials to comply with the rule of law.
“This is a democracy, and no individual should be allowed to breach the constitution and due process as Mr Oyetola and the AGF are doing in Osun State.
“We seek interventions in terms of investigations, compilation and dissemination of reports on democratic threats in Osun State and its implications for the state and national elections of 2026 and 2027,” he added.
The party chairman called on the diplomatic community and right groups to adopt the Osun 2026 governorship election as a pre-2027 test case by highlighting risks and opportunities as the elections drew nearer.
The PDP vowed to persist in pushing its protests to Transparency International, the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, Western embassies and the European Union until its chairmen were allowed to function through the release of local government allocations.
Rejecting the allegations against Oyetola and Fagbemi, the APC urged the diplomatic community and the global rights groups to discountenance the PDP’s claims.
It said the matter had been decided by the Court of Appeal in its judgment of February 10, 2025.
“We wish to inform the diplomatic community and global rights groups that it is not true that any individual or government institution is withholding local government allocations. The rightful recipients of the funds are in the process of receiving them.
“The Osun State PDP should desist from misinforming the diplomatic community in a bid to undermine the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on February 10, 2025, which reinstated the APC council chairmen and councillors.
“The PDP leadership must come clean to the international community on why it failed to appeal the February 10, 2025, judgment and why it is now attempting to withdraw its pending case before the Supreme Court.
“One wonders why the Osun PDP is acting as a meddlesome interloper, considering it is not even a recognised party in the matter, especially following the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment that granted unconditional autonomy to local governments across the country.
“Has the PDP chairman forgotten that the state government is indebted to the tune of N84bn, being the total amount it allegedly diverted from local government allocations over several months, in clear violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling?” Olabisi’s statement stated.
