The Bola Tinubu-led federal government has reportedly withheld local government allocations to Osun State since March 2025.
According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the federal government’s decision to freeze the disbursement is linked to ongoing pressure to recognize only local government chairmen affiliated with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
As a result, Osun State has not received local government allocations for March, April, and May, effectively cutting off critical funding for grassroots governance for three consecutive months.
The development comes in the wake of the controversial local government elections held by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration—an exercise that reportedly drew the ire of Bola Tinubu’s government.
According to sources, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation suspended the disbursement of funds to Osun State’s local governments shortly after the elections.
Further reports revealed that while the allocations remain frozen, APC-backed local government chairmen have attempted to open official LGA accounts, allegedly with backing from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Osogbo branch. However, the Osun State government quickly stepped in to stop the move.
“Osun State is yet to receive local government allocations in the state for three months now, with June to make it the fourth month,” one of the sources revealed.
“The federal government asked individual LGAs to open accounts so they can receive monies directly there. When it got to Osun State’s turn, the CBN went to meet APC chairmen in connivance with the Accountant General’s Office, aiming to open the LGA accounts unilaterally for them without any input from the state government.
“The directive was that the director of administration on local government issues at the state level would sign the document meant for bank account opening, but none of this happened.”
“When Osun State Government found out, it wrote a letter to the Accountant General’s Office in protest, and this was how the state government was able to stop the move,” the source added.
Sources reveal that a new director was recently appointed to the Osogbo branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, reportedly to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for local government chairmen loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, the process reportedly ran into difficulties due to challenges in securing the required signatures from the chairmen.
The local government elections held in Osun State in February were marred by controversy, as the APC rejected the outcome and maintained that the chairmen elected under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola remained the rightful officeholders.
Reports further indicate that during a meeting at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Bola Tinubu acknowledged that he was aware Governor Ademola Adeleke had removed the Oyetola-era LGA chairmen—a move Adeleke defended after raising concerns over the federal government’s suspension of local government allocations to the state.
The APC, including the CBN and Attorney General’s Office, have been using all machinery of state to release funds to the APC-recognised chairmen, ensuring that nothing is released to the state,” another source told SaharaReporters.
“In fact, the CBN went as far as meeting the APC chairmen, collecting their signatures—all in a bid to release the money to them.
“As of now, we do not know why funds have not been released because some days ago, during the FAAC meeting, Osun State raised this issue.”
Sources within the PDP stated that a recent Court of Appeal judgement meant that the APC-led Nigerian government had no right to withhold the allocation anymore.
“The LGA chairmen under APC duly re-instated by the court are in Osogbo for the opening of accounts by the CBN,” He said.
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