The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Osun State Chapter, has vowed not to work with court-sacked APC chairmen and councillors, accusing the Federal Government of aiding their return through illegal release of statutory allocations.
Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo on Sunday, NULGE State President, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, said local government employees, as career officers, could not be forced to work with politicians removed by competent courts of law.
According to ogungbangbe, “We are not politicians, but our work as career officers who are expected to protect the assets of the Councils is directly impacted by this illegal action of the Federal Government.
“There are existing Bank Accounts of the Thirty (30) Local Governments in various commercial banks. What informed the opening of the UBA Accounts by the APC politicians in the names of the Thirty (30) Local Governments in Osun State, with the active support of the Attorney-General of the Federation?
“This is supposed to be a democracy and we insist on the RULE OF LAW. We cannot be expected to work with politicians who have been sacked by competent Courts of Law but are being imposed on our state by the Attorney-General.
“For emphasis, we repeat that the judgments of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal have removed these politicians from the Local Governments”, he declared.
He also alleged that the Minister of Finance, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the Attorney-General of the Federation had directed that Osun local government allocations covering March to September 2025 be paid into bank accounts opened by the sacked APC officials.
“Today, we have it on good authority that these three principal officers of the Federal Government have released the Osun State local government councils’ allocations for the month of March, 2025 to September, 2025 to the illegal bank accounts opened by court-sacked APC chairmen and councillors,” he said.
The union described the move as alarming and unprecedented, noting that the accounts were opened with United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc without due process.
“We find this development very scary and alarming. Paying local government allocations into privately opened and illegal bank accounts of politicians is unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented,” Ogungbangbe added.
NULGE further argued that the action of the federal officers violated judicial pronouncements already made in the dispute. It recalled that the Federal High Court on May 15, 2025 ordered parties to maintain the status quo, an order which the Central Bank of Nigeria acknowledged.
“It is worrisome that these officers and the federal authorities which they represent do not have respect for the authority of the courts,” Ogungbangbe said. “We wish to remind them that a country that does not have respect for its own judicial authorities is digging its own grave.”
The union maintained that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had sacked the APC chairmen and councillors, stressing that new elections had produced duly elected officials. It insisted that the Attorney-General could not usurp the powers of the Supreme Court.
“The Attorney-General cannot assume the role of the Supreme Court by setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the sacking of the APC politicians. The Attorney-General is NOT above the law,” the NULGE leader stated.
While warning that the “illegal action” was aimed at causing anarchy and paving the way for a state of emergency in Osun, the union urged residents to remain calm and not allow enemies of the state to destabilize it.
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