Governor Ademola Adeleke has inaugurated the 30 newly elected local government chairmen in Osun State with a directive to them to stay away from the local government secretariats pending the resolution of the legal tussle on the tenure of the previous chairmen, to avoid violence in the State.
The inauguration ceremony was witnessed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and bigwigs from within and outside the State. They included the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed; his Oyo State counterpart, Engr. Seyi Makinde, and a former governor of the State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, among others.
LEADERSHIP reports that the new chairmen were elected on Saturday and were subsequently presented with their certificates of return by the chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission,(OSSIEC), Barrister Hashim Abioye,
Governor Adeleke said: “I urge you and your councilors to please stay away from the council secretariats to avoid any clash with those whom the police had aided to forcefully occupy the local government secretariats.
“An Osun State High Court had affirmed the vacancies in both the chairman and Councilor positions in all of Osun State Local Governments before your election on the 22nd February 2025. We will, therefore, rely on the judiciary to ensure a peaceful removal of those illegally occupying the local government secretariats.”
Recall that OSSIEC had on Saturday declared candidates of the PDP as winners in both the 332 councillorship polls and the 30 local government chairmanship seats in the elections conducted on February 22, 2025.
Adeleke, who charged the new chairmen to deliver on good governance in their respective local government areas, tasked them to develop plans of action within the manifesto of the PDP. He called on them to be agents of change, community developers and deliverers of dividends of democracy.
Other dignitaries present at the occasion included a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuff; Osun State deputy governor, Prince Kola Adewusi; Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Egbedun, andthe State PDP chairman, Hon Sunday Bisi.
Also speaking, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State urged the newly inaugurated chairmen to remember the promises they made during their campaigns, saying that their election was an opportunity for them to deliver goodies to the people at the grassroots level.
He said: “This will be your stepping stones to higher positions and the reward for hardwork and for delivering is more work.
“We don’t want ‘Wild Wild West’ again. They should stay away from this zone. We want to peacefully provide the dividends of democracy to the people.
“They should not resort to self-help even if there is a court judgement. They should not think because they have Federal might. This is a Federal arrangement. I will stop here,” Makinde stated.
