Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola has dismissed allegations by the Osun State House of Assembly that he interfered in the administration of local governments, including the disbursement of their funds and the issuance of directives to banks regarding the operations of the third tier of government.
Reacting to the claims, the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Bolaji Akinola, dismissed the allegations as fabricated and malicious, stressing that local governments across Nigeria enjoy full financial autonomy under the Constitution.
In a statement responding to a press release issued by the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, on Sunday, February 1, 2026, Akinola described attempts to link Oyetola to local government finances as reckless propaganda aimed at diverting attention from the state government’s failures and ongoing legal challenges.
He said the minister has no constitutional or statutory role in the administration or disbursement of local government funds and has neither issued directives to banks nor interfered in the running of local councils in Osun State.
According to Akinola, the statement credited to the Speaker merely recycled what he described as discredited narratives earlier promoted by Governor Ademola Adeleke, characterising them as a desperate bid to unlawfully reassert state control over local government funds in defiance of binding court judgments.
He noted that the Osun State Government and the House of Assembly are uneasy with the constitutional reality that local governments possess full financial autonomy, as affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Akinola recalled the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, which unequivocally granted full financial autonomy to all local governments in Nigeria, affirming their independence and expressly barring state governors from interfering in their affairs or appropriating their funds.
He stressed that the judgment is final, binding and cannot be overturned through press statements or political threats.
He also referenced a subsisting judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on February 10, 2025, which reinstated the duly elected local government chairmen in Osun State. He noted that the state government declined to appeal the ruling, rendering it final and enforceable, and conferring lawful authority on the reinstated chairmen to administer their councils.
Dismissing claims that the chairmen are “illegal,” Akinola described such assertions as false and intellectually dishonest, emphasising that they were duly elected and reinstated by a superior court of record.
He further alleged that the Osun State Government has filed no fewer than twelve separate court cases on the matter, creating administrative bottlenecks, and accused the Adeleke administration of instigating and sponsoring an eleven-month strike by local government workers to paralyse council operations and undermine their autonomy.
Akinola maintained that local governments have full authority to manage their funds independently of the governor or the state assembly, adding that they also have duly elected councillors who constitutionally constitute the legislative arm of local government administration.
He condemned what he described as deliberate misinformation by the Speaker of the House, accusing him of misrepresenting settled legal issues to mislead the public. He also cautioned Egbedun to exercise restraint in his public statements, particularly against making what he termed reckless remarks about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Akinola called on Nigerians, civil society organisations, and advocates of constitutional democracy to defend local government autonomy and resist what he described as attempts by the Osun State Government and House of Assembly to circumvent the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, insisting that the rule of law must prevail.
