Between Politics And Public Service: The Fresh Battle Over Osun LG Workers

By Ayobami Agboola, Osogbo

The dust raised by the August 15 governorship election in Osun State may have settled at the ballot box, but its political reverberations continue to shake the state’s local government system.

At the centre of the latest controversy are local government workers, with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) accusing the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke of targeting council employees allegedly perceived to have supported the party during the election.

The allegation has triggered a fresh war of words between the APC and the state government, raising a broader question that goes beyond partisan politics: where should legitimate administrative discipline end and political affiliation begin in the workplace?

The APC, in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, alleged that some local government workers had been summoned before an investigative and disciplinary panel at the Local Government Service Commission in Abere, Osogbo.

The party claimed that the workers were being questioned over their political activities before and during the August 15 election and alleged that some had been asked to present their mobile phones for scrutiny.

According to the APC, the phones were allegedly examined for communications with members or supporters of the opposition party. It further alleged that questions were raised about some workers’ banking relationships, including accounts with United Bank for Africa (UBA).

The party described the alleged exercise as “inhuman, barbaric and unconstitutional,” arguing that workers should not be subjected to disciplinary action simply because of their political choices.

It also alleged that some affected employees faced the possibility of suspension, dismissal or other sanctions, and called on Governor Adeleke to disband the investigative committee.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of the prolonged struggle over the administration of Osun’s 30 local government councils, with the state government and APC-backed council officials maintaining opposing positions over control of the councils.

That dispute has repeatedly spilled into the public service, with competing claims over workers, salaries, council administration and the authority to direct local government affairs.

The APC has now sought to frame the latest development as part of that wider political struggle, arguing that public servants should be allowed to maintain their political preferences without fear of workplace retaliation.

“In May 2026, an association describing itself as the Association of Concerned Local Government Workers alleged that more than 400 council workers had been suspended or removed from the state payroll for working with APC-reinstated local government officials.

“It is our belief as a party that the news that workers’ phones and bank alerts are being examined to establish their political affiliations raises an important question on the nexus between legitimate administrative investigation and political surveillance.

“It is beyond the constitutional authority of any tier of government to punish its staff for exercising their political choice at the ballot box as Nigeria’s electoral system is based on the principle of secret voting. Consequently, establishing how an individual voted is not ordinarily something that can simply be determined by inspecting a person’s phone or bank statement.

“It is saddening that the Governor Adeleke-led government could choose the needless intimidation of the local government employees who occupy positions that ordinarily require continuity of service regardless of which political party controls government based on their political choice.

“We urge Governor Adeleke to immediately reactivate all the local government staff accounts that have been deactivated for salary payment and put a stop to this sadistic approach to governance by dismantling the obnoxious committee that is acting ultra vires, and subsequently embarrassing his administration among the comity of other forward-moving states in Nigeria”.

But the state government has rejected the allegation.

Governor Adeleke’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, described the APC’s claim of a political witch-hunt as “a figment of the opposition’s imagination,” insisting that no local government worker was being victimised because of political affiliation.

Rasheed said the governor remained committed to reconciliation following the election and pointed to Adeleke’s declaration that there was “no winner, no vanquished” as evidence of his post-election approach.

He also cited the governor’s reported establishment of an electoral violence compensation fund and other panels as part of efforts to address the political tensions that accompanied the election.

The government’s position, however, has gone beyond a simple denial. In a separate response to the controversy, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the workers being investigated were allegedly involved in a double-salary issue, rather than being targeted because of their political affiliation.

Alimi said the investigation followed a petition alleging that some employees were receiving salaries from both the state government and APC-backed local government officials, adding that the exercise was about alleged financial infractions.

That explanation has introduced another dimension to the controversy.

If the investigation is indeed about alleged double payments, the central issue becomes one of payroll integrity and public-sector accountability. But if, as the APC alleges, political activities, private communications or political associations are being used as evidence against workers, the matter raises a fundamentally different set of questions about the rights and responsibilities of public servants.

The distinction is important because local government employees, like other public servants, operate within established service rules. At the same time, political participation and voting are part of Nigeria’s constitutional democratic system.

The APC has therefore questioned what it described as the possible use of workers’ phones and bank information to establish their political loyalties, arguing that such an approach could blur the line between administrative investigation and political surveillance.

The party also referenced an earlier allegation by the Association of Concerned Local Government Workers that more than 400 council employees had been suspended or removed from the payroll over alleged association with APC-backed local government officials. That claim, like the latest allegations, remains a matter of dispute.

For the workers caught in the middle, however, the political argument has a very practical consequence: their jobs, salaries and professional futures.

A local government employee may have a political preference outside the office, but the question is whether that preference should have any bearing on his or her official responsibilities, remuneration or continued employment.

The government insists that workers are protected by public service regulations and that compliance with those regulations is mandatory. Rasheed said the administration remained committed to protecting workers’ rights “within the ambit of the law and public service regulations.”

The APC, on the other hand, wants the governor to go further by stopping what it describes as political intimidation, restoring affected salary arrangements and dismantling the committee it considers illegitimate.

Thus, beneath the increasingly heated rhetoric lies an issue that deserves careful scrutiny: what exactly are the workers being investigated for, what evidence is being relied upon, and what safeguards are in place to ensure that legitimate administrative investigations do not become instruments of political punishment?

Those questions may ultimately determine whether the current controversy is simply another chapter in Osun’s prolonged local government crisis or a deeper test of the state’s commitment to separating public administration from partisan politics.

For now, the two sides remain sharply divided.

The APC sees victimisation where the government says there is an administrative investigation. The government sees compliance with service rules where the opposition alleges political persecution.

Between those competing narratives are the local government workers themselves — public servants whose ability to perform their duties should, ideally, remain separate from the political battles that surround the corridors of power.