Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state has disclosed that no less than five members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during a clash with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the leadership of the local governments in the state.
The crisis was a result of the dispute between Governor Ademola Adeleke and the immediate past governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, who is currently the minister of Marine and Blue Economy. The duo were at loggerheads over the return of the sacked APC executive to office after the Court of Appeal reinstated them.
The APC executives resumed office in the early hours of Monday, boosting their regaining control of the local governments as they celebrated their reinstatement. However, the returning APC executives were confronted and resisted by PDP executives across the local governments in the state.
This confrontation between the APC and PDP members in the state witnessed gunshots and the use of other violent weapons, leading to the death and killings of several others.
Speaking on the crisis in a tweet on Monday, February 17, Governor Adeleke disclosed that five members of the PDP died in the clash. He said two died in Boripe and another two died in Ola Oluwa while one lost his life in Ikire local governments.
Governor Adeleke then directed that all Osun residents, including politicians across party lines, desist from the local government as he ordered that all the councils should be locked and security agencies should take charge of the premises.
While describing the move by the APC members as a “failed illegal takeover”, the governor said his decision was due to the withdrawal of service by the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) across the state.
The statement reads in part:
“Two of those members are from Iragbiji, Boripe local government. Another two were killed at Ola Oluwa Local government. Another one was lost at Ikire. We must stop further bloodshed.
I have directed security agencies to take charge of all local government secretariats.”
Read his tweet here:
