Osun NULGE Condemns FG for Paying LG Funds to Sacked APC Chairmen

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Osun State has strongly criticized the Federal Government for releasing local government funds to former chairmen from the All Progressives Congress (APC) who were earlier removed by court orders.

At a press conference in Osogbo, NULGE’s Osun State President, Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, accused three top federal officials—the Minister of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Attorney-General of the Federation—of abuse of power. He said they wrongly approved the payment of allocations from March to September 2025 to the sacked APC chairmen.

Ogungbangbe said the payments were made into new accounts allegedly opened by the removed APC officials with United Bank for Africa (UBA), which he claimed were illegal. He stressed that NULGE is a non-political organization, but it must speak up because this action affects public funds and the proper functioning of local governments.

According to him, both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled that the APC chairmen were no longer in office and that new elections had been held. He stated:

“The Attorney-General cannot overrule the Court of Appeal. He is not above the law.”

Ogungbangbe called it scary and shocking that public funds were paid into private accounts allegedly created by politicians, instead of the official local government accounts that are managed by career civil servants.

He said:

“We find this development alarming. It is unheard of in public administration for government funds to be paid into illegal accounts opened by people already removed from office by the courts.”

He also expressed concern that the issue is still pending before the Supreme Court, and the Federal Government should have waited for the court’s decision instead of taking sides and making payments.

He concluded by questioning the motive behind using UBA and the reason for bypassing the existing, legal accounts of the 30 local governments in Osun State.

“We are not politicians, but we are responsible for protecting the assets of local councils. This illegal action is directly affecting our work,” he added.

Source: The Sun