Why the local governments' money is stuck: a plain explanation
Two sets of people say they are the lawful chairmen of Osun's local governments. Until that is resolved, the money sits still. Here is how it happened, without the party spin.
By Noble Movement
If you work for a local government in Osun, or you use a primary health centre, or your child is taught by a primary school teacher, you already know something is wrong. Here is the sequence of events, as recorded by the courts and the press.
October 2022: an election, then a nullification
Local government elections were held in October 2022 and APC candidates were returned as chairmen. In November 2022 the Federal High Court in Osogbo nullified that election. The chairmen left office and went to the Court of Appeal.
February 2025: one judgment, two readings
On 10 February 2025 the Court of Appeal in Akure dismissed the PDP's suit and upheld the APC's appeal.
What that judgment actually did is where the two sides part company. The APC says it restored its 2022 chairmen to office. The Osun State Government says the court only held that the suit had been brought too early, and made no order returning anyone to office.
Days later, violence broke out around local government secretariats and lives were lost.
February 2025: a fresh election
On 22 February 2025 a fresh local government election was held and the PDP was declared winner in all 30 local governments. Those chairmen were sworn in. The APC rejected the election as unlawful and asked the Federal Government to withhold the local governments' allocations.
March 2025 onwards: the money stops
From March 2025, the monthly allocations FAAC publishes for Osun's local governments stopped reaching the local governments' accounts. By January 2026 the state government was publicly demanding the release of more than ₦130bn. By July 2026, reporting put the figure at about ₦202bn over fifteen months.
That money is what pays primary school teachers, health workers across the state's primary healthcare centres, local government staff, traditional local governments and pensioners.
Where it stands
The dispute has been through the Supreme Court, which in December 2025 dismissed a suit brought by the Osun Attorney-General while affirming that allocations must go directly to local government accounts. The local governments' secretariats have remained a flashpoint, and in August 2026 the police warned against any attempt to take them over by force.
Nobody reading this needs to take a side to see the problem: the money was allocated, the work it pays for still needs doing, and it has been sitting still for over a year.
The full timeline, with a source for every entry, is on the dispute page.
Government words explained in the word list.