- NIWA boss warns against use of Amotekun to seize council secretariats
The dismissal of a suit relisting the control of Osun State local government areas by the Court of Appeal has revalidated the reinstatement of the council chairmen, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Temilade Adewusi, has said.
It will be recalled that the Appeal Court on February 10th reinstated APC members who had earlier been sacked by two Federal High Court verdicts, but the appellate court dismissed an application by the APC seeking to relist an earlier appeal that had been struck out on January 13 for lack of diligent prosecution.
Adewusi, who is one of the leaders of APC in Osun State, in a statement on Saturday, berated Osun State Government for misinterpreting the fresh verdict and demanding an apology from APC and the Minister of Marine, Adegboyega Oyetola.
She said: “The Friday ruling is a revalidation of the February 10, 2025, appeal court judgement reinstating the APC-led chairmen and councillors sacked by Governor Adeleke in 2022.”
She promised that her civil society group was ready to collaborate with the reinstated APC council chairmen in Atakumosa East/Atakumosa West/Ilesa East/Ilesa West to drive development in Ijesa South Federal Constituency.
She warned that the attempt by the Osun State Government and its handlers to read extraneous meanings to the unambiguous ruling would heat the polity, a development capable of igniting a serious political crisis in the state.
“Justice Obiora said in the fresh verdict that the sudden attempt to resurrect the appeal through this same court will only lead to confusion, and this Court will resist such attempt to lure it to unwittingly seat on Appeal in CA/AK/270/2022.’ The CA/AK/270/2022 case in question is the appeal delivered February 10, 2025, which reinstated the APC-led local government executives and councillors. This ruling is a clear revalidation of the February 10, 2025 judgment of the Court of Appeal.”
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Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, has warned against attempts to use the Amotekun corps to forcefully seize control of local government secretariats from the All Progressives Congress(APC).
This is just as he noted that the recent Appeal Court verdict, which dismissed the relisting of their suit, revalidated the reinstatement of APC council chairmen earlier sacked by the Federal High Court.
Oyebamiji, in a statement through his campaign coordinator, Adebayo Adedeji, on Saturday, cautioned Osun State Government against misinterpretation of the Appeal court verdict on who to control the councils.
He noted that that misleading stance is capable of inciting the public against the duly elected local government executives who, since February, have been conducting the affairs of the local councils following the judgement of 10th February, 2025, which backed their return to office.
He assured that no political force can clinch the local government affairs from the duly reinstated APC chieftains.
He reminded the governor that the primary responsibility of any government is security of life and property, urging the governor to be statesmanly in discharging this responsibility by not setting the state on needless violence as experienced on February 17th, 2025 when Hon Remi Abass, former Chairman of Irewole Local Government, was murdered in broad daylight.