Government offices in Osun were on Monday shut as the three-day sympathy strike declared by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) gathered momentum.
The NLC had on Sunday directed all workers in the state to embark on the industrial action in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) over the continued withholding of statutory allocations due to local government areas in the state.
According to NAN, the gates to the Osun government secretariat and the state house of assembly in Osogbo were locked.
Similarly, the gates of Olorunda LGA and Osogbo LGA secretariats were also locked.
It was also gathered that students of public schools in Osogbo were asked to return home as teachers joined the strike.
In a statement signed on Sunday, Christopher Arapasopo, Osun NLC chairman, and Victor Amusan, its secretary, said the strike followed the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum issued to the federal and Osun governments over the continued withholding of statutory allocations due to local governments in the state.
The NLC said the issues raised concerning the local government allocations had remained unresolved.
It added that after exhausting all reasonable avenues, and in accordance with the resolutions reached at the emergency meeting of the State Executive Council (SEC) held on October 28, all affiliate members of the NLC were directed to embark on the strike.
The NLC leaders said the continued hardship confronting local government workers was a collective concern of the entire labour movement, adding that their response must reflect a shared commitment to workers’ rights, dignity, welfare and economic security.
The Osun state government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been locked in a supremacy battle over control of the local government areas since February 2025.
The Osun government had conducted elections in the state’s 30 local councils.
The exercise was marred by violence, disputes and legal battles as the sacked LGA chairpersons, elected on the platform of the APC, sought to reclaim their seats, citing a court judgment.
Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, had advised Adeleke to halt the planned election.
Fagbemi said the ousted LGA chairpersons must be reinstated since the court of appeal had dismissed the judgment of the lower court that sacked them.
But Adeleke proceeded with the polls, while the APC and Labour Party (LP) withdrew from the elections.
The APC would later ask the federal government to withhold the allocations, arguing that the local government election was unlawful.
In December 2025, the supreme court dismissed the suit filed by the Osun attorney-general (AG), seeking to compel Fagbemi to release all withheld monthly allocations and revenues and pay them directly into the accounts of the LG councils led by officials elected in February 2025.
The apex court held that the Osun AG lacked the legal authority to institute the case on behalf of the state’s 30 LGAs.
However, the supreme court rejected the AGF’s contempt allegations against the Osun AG, noting that it was the AGF who had committed contempt by withholding the funds.
