Withheld Osun LG funds: PDP, APC differ over visa ban for Oyetola, Fagbemi

By Shina Abubakar

OSOGBO — THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State, yesterday, engaged in a war of words over the non-release of Local Government fund to the state.

While the PDP called on the diplomatic community to issue a visa ban against the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, his counterpart in the Ministry of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for influencing the non-release of the funds, the APC accused the PDP of misinforming the public, calling on the diplomatic community to ignore their fake noise.

Recall that the Federal Government withheld funds due to the local government council areas in the state since February over the impasse over the control of council secretariats between the PDP and APC, elected officials.

The situation led to the closure of the council secretariats since February this year.

However, the PDP in a statement by its Chairman, Mr Sunday Bisi, accused Oyetola and Fagbemi of being the brains behind the withheld council funds, describing their actions as deliberate disobedience of the rule of law and an attack on democracy.

Bisi said: “We found this development worrisome and an open threat to democratic governance. We call on the Western embassies and the global rights community to sanction the two federal officials for actions and conduct capable of truncating democracy in Osum state.

“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;

“We request investigations of all sources of threats to democracy using Osun as a point of reference, including the anti-democratic activities of the Nigerian Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, who is a cousin to Mr President.”

Reacting to PDP’s claim, the APC in Osun State disclosed that the party (PDP) is not just wasting its time but also becoming an agent that specialises in misinforming the public, calling on the diplomatic community to ignore their fake noise.

The APC, in a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said: “It is not true that the allocations of the Osun State are being withheld, and it is a fallacy that two ministers are behind their woes.

“The diplomatic community and the global rights groups are products of the rules of the laws, and none of them would encourage anyone to disobey the judgment of the Court of Appeal that reinstated the state APC as the leadership of the ruling party, and Governor Adeleke is doing in Osun State where they gerry pick the court order to obey.

“The Osun State PDP leadership should know that none of the organisations they reported Fagbemi and Oyetola to is a court of law. The PDP will gain nothing from this.”

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