Osun APC Defends Salary Payments to Traditional Rulers Amid Political Tension
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has defended the payment of accumulated salaries to traditional rulers, rejecting criticism from the state House of Assembly Speaker as politically motivated.
The dispute emerged after Speaker Adewale Egbedun questioned why reinstated local government chairmen prioritised settling the long-delayed entitlements of monarchs and chiefs. In response, the Osun APC issued a statement through its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, asserting the payments were a legal and welfare obligation, not a political gesture.
The party accused the Assembly leadership of harbouring hostility toward traditional institutions through “misplaced priorities and public criticism.” It traced the salary backlog to an 11-month period of disruption at the local government level, which it linked to a factional industrial action by the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE). The APC further claimed that access to statutory allocations was hindered by court actions initiated by the state government, prolonging the non-payment.
Defending the councils’ actions, Samuel Abiodun Idowu, Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Osun—a group aligned with the APC—stated the payments were lawful and consistent with party policy. He emphasised that traditional rulers, as “custodians of culture,” must not have their entitlements politicised.
Idowu cited two key rulings: the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, affirming local government fiscal autonomy, and a Court of Appeal decision from February 10, 2025, which reinstated the APC-aligned council chairmen and councillors. He noted the latter ruling remains intact. “The reinstated chairmen owe no apology to anyone for paying what is legitimately due to traditional rulers,” Idowu said, adding councils would not subject monarchs to “avoidable hardship, harassment or victimisation.”
The APC also invoked previous tensions between the state administration and some royal fathers. It referenced a publicised dispute between Speaker Egbedun and the Alasi of Asi, Oba Oyewale Olasunkanmi Isaac, where an audio recording captured the Speaker making remarks perceived as threatening toward the monarch during a private call. The party argued such incidents underscore the necessity of promptly meeting statutory obligations to traditional rulers.
The standoff highlights ongoing friction between Osun’s APC-controlled local councils and the state government, which has been dominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). By framing the salary payments as a fulfilment of court-sanctioned local government autonomy and cultural respect, the APC is positioning itself as a defender of traditional institutions against a state leadership it accuses of antagonism. The resolution of this financial and political dispute may hinge on further interpretations of local government autonomy and the state’s relationship with its traditional rulers.
