AGF, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN
By Mike Dike Osogbo
Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has petitioned global human rights organizations, western embassies, and the diplomatic community over what it described as a deliberate disobedience of court orders and calculated subversion of democratic governance in Osun State.
The party specifically accused the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, of orchestrating the ongoing local government crisis by disregarding a Court of Appeal judgment which affirmed the legitimacy of PDP-elected chairmen and councillors in the state.
The PDP in a statement by its party chairman Mr Sunday Bisi which was made available to journalists in Osogbo on Tuesday alleged that the duo has continued to enforce illegal control of local government funds.
The statement alleged that the two federal Officers in Abuja is directing allocations of the state to sacked APC functionaries, despite a binding appellate court ruling in favour of the PDP.
“Rather than uphold the rule of law, Mr. Oyetola, leveraging his family ties to President Bola Tinubu, is allegedly influencing the illegal withholding of Osun’s local government allocations for over five months—without any lawful justification,” the statement read.
The party further cited legal precedents confirming the authority of the PDP local government leadership and accused the AGF and Oyetola of undermining constitutional governance in the state.
“We find this development deeply troubling and a grave threat to democracy. We call on western embassies and international rights groups to impose sanctions on both federal officials for their roles in truncating democratic rule in Osun State,” said Hon. Sunday Bisi, the PDP State Chairman.
The party called for the imposition of visa bans and other diplomatic sanctions to compel compliance with court judgments and the Nigerian Constitution.
In its petition to bodies including Transparency International, International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, the European Union, and Western embassies, the PDP made the following demands:
Immediate international investigation into the disobedience of court orders in Osun State.
Documentation and dissemination of reports on democratic threats ahead of the 2026 Osun gubernatorial election and the 2027 general election.
Designation of the 2026 Osun election as a democratic test case, with attention to the anti-democratic activities allegedly involving federal officials.
Special focus on the role of Minister Oyetola, whom the party described as a cousin to President Tinubu, in using political influence to undermine constitutional order.
The PDP reiterated its commitment to sustaining international advocacy until the legitimately elected local government officials are reinstated and all withheld allocations released.
“We will not relent in escalating our protest to global rights organizations and diplomatic missions until justice is done and democratic principles are restored in Osun State,” the statement concluded.
