Tension flared in parts of Osun State on Friday as chairmen and councillors elected in the February 22, 2025 local government elections resumed duties in several council secretariats, following a Federal High Court judgment that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said affirmed their tenure in office.

The resumption of the officials, elected on the platform of the PDP, triggered disagreements between the ruling PDP and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), both of which laid claim to the leadership of local government councils across the state.

The Deputy Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Oladele Bamiji, said the elected PDP chairmen returned to work in several local government areas, including Ede North, Ede South, Iwo, Boripe, Ifelodun and Ila, in compliance with the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo.

However, efforts by PDP officials to gain access to the Olorunda Local Government Secretariat in Igbona, Osogbo, were met with resistance, leading to a heated exchange between party members and security operatives stationed at the facility.

The gate to the secretariat was eventually locked, preventing the officials from entering the premises. Security personnel later held discussions with the PDP delegation before they left the area.

Reacting to the development, Bamiji maintained that the PDP chairmen remained the legally recognised administrators of the councils and had every right to resume office.

“They are the legal chairmen, and they ought to be in the local government anyway. The PDP local government chairmen remain the legally elected local government administrators in Osun State,” he said.

He argued that the Federal High Court judgment made it appropriate for the officials elected under the PDP platform to return to their offices and continue serving the electorate.

According to him, the level of resistance encountered during the resumption was minimal because the legal position was clear.

“To the best of my knowledge, there was not much resistance against our people resuming at the local government level,” Bamiji stated.

“Our people, the PDP elected chairmen, will resume fully next Monday by the grace of God, and they will all be there to perform their duty for which they were elected. The PDP will not be obeying the law if the chairmen refuse to resume work as ordered by the Federal High Court.”

Meanwhile, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Osun State, led by APC-elected chairmen, rejected the move and accused the PDP officials of attempting to forcefully take over council secretariats.

Speaking on behalf of the APC chairmen, ALGON Chairman Adegoke Ogunsola said the affected officials had already filed a motion for stay of execution and an appeal challenging the court judgment.

He maintained that the legal process was still ongoing and argued that the PDP chairmen and councillors were not parties to the suit dismissed by the court.

According to Ogunsola, there was no court order authorising the PDP officials to assume control of the local government councils.

He further stated that law enforcement agencies had been served with the motion for stay of execution and warned that attempts to enforce what he described as a disputed judgment could lead to a breakdown of law and order.

“The police that they wanted to use to enforce the wrong judgment is party to the suit and is now aware of the appeal filed by the APC chairmen and councillors,” Ogunsola said.

He urged residents to remain calm and disregard what he described as misinformation regarding the implications of the court ruling.

Ogunsola also argued that one of the major issues before the appellate court concerns the validity of the February 2025 local government election, given what he described as the subsisting tenure of officials elected in the October 15, 2022 council polls.

“This and other issues are already placed before the Court of Appeal and it is incumbent upon a government to respect the rule of law by awaiting the outcome of those issues,” he added.

The dispute follows the recent dismissal by the Federal High Court in Osogbo of a suit filed by APC chairmen elected in the 2022 local government elections, who had sought judicial clarification on the duration and expiration of their tenure.

The ruling has since generated differing interpretations by both political parties, setting the stage for a fresh legal and political contest over the control of local government administration in Osun State.