Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, is said to be under pressure to allow the Federal Government release Osun Local Governments’ allocations.
A top Presidency official has reportedly told the Minister, who is President Tinubu’s cousin that withholding the allocations is fast eroding whatever is left of APC credibility in the Osun State.
Top insiders who are in the know of the development revealed that the Presidency official directly reached out to Mr. Oyetola, to advise against the ongoing withholding of the allocation, calling for a change of strategy if the party is not to lose woefully in 2026 state elections.
The top official was reported to have cited many validated reports from Osun State which showed that the people believed the PDP narrative on the local government crisis, that the people held that the APC is breaching the law and that federal might is being unlawfully deployed to punish Osun people and her government.
Reports indicated that the message to the Marine Minister followed what an insider called the reluctance of many federal officials to say the truth because of fear of offending Oyetola.
“Somebody has braced the odd to say the truth to elder Oyetola. His strategy on Osun has failed. The people hate the APC more and more especially over this withholding of council funds. It is ironic that it is the Adeleke government that is still defending Mr President from the backlash.
“The silent whispers in the state house are what have come out. Many leading officials think the President is being wrongly advised by the Justice Minister and Elder Oyetola.
“After Adeleke’s endorsement of Mr President, the right thing to do is to release the LG fund and normalise the grassroots government.
“Other potential allies are afraid of us seeing how we are treating a state where Mr President hailed from.
“We must face the reality of Osun politics. We cannot hope to win by violating the law, armtwisting state government and punishing the people with fund seizure. The approach has backfired. That dancing Governor is becoming popular by the day”, a source privy to the development confirmed.
