The Osun State Local Government Service Commission has approved the deployment of five Heads of Local Government Administration (HLAs) to new duty posts, further heightening tensions amid the ongoing struggle for control of council areas across the state.
The development was contained in a letter dated 26 January 2025 and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the commission, Mudashir Oyedeji. The letter, which was obtained by New Daily Prime in Osogbo on Tuesday, announced the immediate redeployment of the affected local government career heads from their previous postings to new council areas.
Although the commission did not state the reasons for the redeployment, the decision has drawn political attention, particularly as one of the affected council areas is Boripe Local Government, the hometown of former Osun State Governor and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.
According to the letter, Yakubu Adekunle Oni, who was previously serving at the Irewole North East Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), has been redeployed to Boripe Local Government Area. The document further revealed that all five officers were moved from various Local Council Development Authorities to substantive local government councils.
The affected officers are Bolaji Wasiu Ayoola, Emmanuel Oluwole Ademokoya, Adebisi Lateef Kayode, Yakubu Adekunle Oni, and Isaac Tope Akinwumi. Their former postings included Ife South West LCDA, Oriade South LCDA, Ede East LCDA, Irewole North East LCDA, and Egbedore South LCDA.
Their new postings are to Ola-Oluwa Local Government, Atakumosa East Local Government, Oriade Local Government, Boripe Local Government, and Ife East Central LCDA. The commission directed all officers affected by the deployment to resume their duties immediately.
However, the letter did not clarify the fate or next postings of those who were previously overseeing the councils to which the new HLAs have been deployed.
The redeployment comes amid an ongoing dispute between the Osun State Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over control of the state’s local government councils. The development has generated mixed reactions from supporters of Governor Ademola Adeleke and members of the opposition APC.
Several APC supporters took to social media on Tuesday to criticise the move, alleging it was part of a strategy by the state government to wrest control of council areas from political officeholders currently managing them.
In contrast, supporters of Governor Adeleke dismissed the claims, arguing that the state government, as the employer of civil servants, has the authority to deploy its officers whenever necessary.
Governor Adeleke and the Osun APC have continued to trade accusations over what the state government describes as the illegal occupation of council secretariats by APC-elected chairpersons and councillors. In a state broadcast on Monday, Adeleke maintained that the tenure of the APC-elected local government officials ended on 25 October 2025.
The APC has rejected this position, insisting that its chairmen and councillors were forcibly removed from office in 2022 and later reinstated by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on 10 February 2025. The party added that the matter of their tenure is currently before the court for determination.
