FH Court Verdict On Reinstated LG Chairmen, A Miscarriage Of Justice

…Heads to court of appeal

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo which dismissed the suit filed by reinstated local government chairmen and councillors elected on October 15, 2022, describing the verdict as a “miscarriage of justice.”

The party said it would challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal, insisting that the affected chairmen and councillors still have constitutional rights to pursue legal redress.

In a statement signed by the Osun APC Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the party alleged that the Federal High Court proceeded to deliver judgment despite the pendency of appeals before the appellate court.

According to statement, “The suit was commenced in September, 2025 and following a number of Appeals arising from the interlocutory rulings, the Court of Appeal in Abuja sat on the matter on 3rd June, 2026 and adjourned the hearing of the appeals to 28th September, 2026.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Court of Appeal has become seised of the matter and a motion for staying further proceedings by the lower court in the matter is pending at the Court of Appeal, the Judge went ahead and proceeded to give judgment today 15th June, 2026 where the suit was dismissed.

The Judge ruled that the tenure of office of the reinstated elected officers of the local government councils ended in October, 2025.

The implication is that the purported elections conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission on 22nd February, 2025 and the alleged swearing in of the people as elected officers on 23rd February, 2025 became a nullity having held that the tenure of office of the Plaintiffs subsisted till October, 2025.

Members of the public are hereby advised to be wary of the usual misleading information being peddled by the Osun State Government over the void elections and swearing-in purportedly done in February, 2025.

Meanwhile, the reinstated Chairmen and Councilors shall put to test the judgment at the appropriate venue and until such constitutional rights are exhaustively exercised, the reinstated Chairmen and Councilors will continue to discharge their constitutional duties in the office.

The law enforcement agencies are hereby called upon to caution the members of the deregistered Accord Party trying to breach the rules of law by looking for means to create crises over the matter.

Our members and supporters should remain resolute as we have resolved to explore the window of redress allowed by the law of the land to ensure the continuity of the good governance being offered by our party at the grassroots level of government in the state.

We however, enjoin the state police command to beam their searchlight on the state Governor Adeleke who has been issuing inflammatory statements and the illegal chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), one Sarafadeen Awotunde alias ‘Spain’ should there be a break down of law and order on the recent development in the state.

It should be noted that the chairmen and councillors or the APC have their constitutional right of appeal and they have exercised it by filing a notice of appeal together with a motion for stay of execution. No enforcement process can be commenced against them until the final determination of the appeal.

We, therefore, urge the members of the public to exercise restraint and await the final determination of the appeal.