A civil-society group has issued a firm 72-hour ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu and the federal authorities, demanding the immediate release of statutory allocations owed to the 30 local government councils in Osun State.
The group warned that continued refusal to release the funds would trigger public protests and possible legal action.The ultimatum comes amid a protracted dispute over withheld allocations — a consequence of the ongoing tussle between Federal Government agencies and elected local government officials whose legitimacy has been contested since February.
Supporters of the local councils argue that withholding these allocations undermines grassroots governance and cripples community-level administration.The call for release follows a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which struck out a suit filed by the state government on technical grounds, but nonetheless declared the FG’s withholding of the funds unconstitutional and unconstitutional.
Local government workers, traditional institutions and civil-society actors have repeatedly raised alarms about the paralysis of council secretariats across the state, pointing to the severe impact on service delivery and development at the grassroots level.
With the ultimatum now in place, all eyes are on the Federal Government to see whether it will comply within the stipulated timeframe — or risk a fresh wave of public outcry and possible legal showdown.
