The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Osun State has directed council workers to continue staying away from their offices, citing security concerns and disputes over the release of withheld allocations.
The directive, announced on Sunday in Osogbo by the state chairman of NULGE, Dr Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, is the latest escalation in a crisis triggered by a 10 February ruling of the Court of Appeal, Akure.
The judgment sparked a political tussle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the reinstatement of sacked APC chairmen and councillors elected in 2022. While the PDP insists the ruling does not reinstate them, the APC maintains otherwise, resulting in months of disruption in local government administration.
Addressing a news conference, Ogungbangbe accused the APC chairmen of opening “illegal” bank accounts and diverting five months of allocations meant for councils between March and August.
“We have it on good authority that the allocations for March to August were released into bank accounts illegally opened by the court-sacked APC chairmen and councillors. This development is both alarming and unacceptable,” he said.
He stressed that NULGE members were not politicians but career officers, with a duty to safeguard council assets. “There are already existing bank accounts for the 30 local governments in commercial banks. There is no need to open new ones,” he added.
Ogungbangbe stated that workers would not return until the matter was resolved by the courts. He also urged Governor Ademola Adeleke to sustain peace efforts in the state.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and NULGE had earlier ordered workers to withdraw services from 17 February amid fears of violence over the disputed leadership.
