The political dispute over the control of local government councils in Osun State intensified on Thursday as the state government sought police protection for chairmen elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while the All Progressives Congress, APC, urged security agencies to prevent what it described as an unlawful takeover of council secretariats.

The development followed the June 15, 2026 judgment of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, which dismissed a suit filed by chairmen elected under the APC in the October 15, 2022 local government election and rejected their request for tenure elongation.

In a letter dated June 18, 2026 and addressed to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone XI Headquarters, Osogbo, counsel to the Osun State Government and the local government areas, Oluwabusola Oluwaniyi, requested police protection for officials elected in the February 22, 2025 local government election to enable them to resume office.

The government also urged the police to remove APC chairmen currently occupying council secretariats across the state, arguing that the Federal High Court had dismissed all the reliefs sought by the officials, including prayers to continue in office and requests restraining their removal.

According to the letter, Governor Ademola Adeleke directed security agencies to ensure the safety of local government staff and facilitate the resumption of officials elected in the 2025 poll.

The government maintained that there was no court order staying the judgment or restraining its enforcement.

The letter stated, “All the reliefs specifically sought by them were expressly refused by the court, and their originating summons was dismissed in its entirety. The filing of an appeal did not amount to a stay of execution.”

However, the APC warned against any attempt to enforce the judgment while an appeal process was underway.

In a statement signed by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the party alleged that supporters of the PDP and the Accord Party were planning to invade council secretariats beginning from Friday.

The opposition party called on the Commissioner of Police and other security agencies to be on alert, insisting that the legal process had not been exhausted following the filing of a notice of appeal by the affected chairmen.

“It is the law that once an appeal and an application for stay of execution of a judgment have been filed, no party is allowed to proceed with the execution of such a judgment,” the APC stated.

The party urged security agencies to hold Governor Adeleke and labour leaders accountable for any breakdown of law and order, alleging that attempts to forcefully assume control of the councils could trigger unrest across the state.

Meanwhile, counsel to the APC chairmen, Kunle Adegoke (SAN), formally wrote to the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja, informing him that his clients had filed both a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution against the Federal High Court judgment.

In the letter dated June 17, 2026, Adegoke said the appeal was lodged at the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on June 16, while a motion seeking a stay of execution was filed at the Federal High Court on the same day.

He cited the Court of Appeal decision in M. O. Kanu, Sons & Co. v. F.B.N. Plc, urging the police to refrain from enforcing the judgment pending the determination of the appeal and the motion for stay.

Adegoke wrote, “We respectfully urge you and your good offices to refrain from taking any step towards the execution of the judgment, as such execution will undermine the pending judicial process at the Court of Appeal and occasion a grave miscarriage of justice.”