A prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Esther Temilade Adewusi, has sharply criticised Governor Ademola Adeleke for allegedly engaging what she termed as “incompetent legal practitioners” to represent the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ongoing legal tussle concerning the legitimacy of the 2022 local government elections.
Adewusi, founder of the Temilade Esther Adewusi Foundation (TEAF), expressed strong reservations about the legal strategy employed by the Adeleke-led administration, claiming that the governor’s legal team had demonstrated a poor understanding of the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on Friday, June 13, 2025.
According to her, this “misinterpretation” exposes a glaring gap in legal expertise among the lawyers defending the PDP’s position.
The controversy stems from a case originally filed by the All Peoples Party (APP) at the Federal High Court, challenging the legality of the Osun State local government elections held on October 15, 2022.
The APP contested the election process, which saw only APC candidates fielded by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s administration.
In the latest development, the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure ruled against the APC’s application to relist an appeal earlier struck out on January 13, 2025, due to lack of diligent prosecution. Justice Peter Obiorah, who delivered the judgment virtually, held that granting the request to relist the appeal would amount to judicial confusion and abuse of court processes, stressing that the application lacked merit.
However, Adewusi argued that the ruling should not be misrepresented. She stated that the court merely refused to reinstate a procedural appeal filed by the APC, and that the ruling in no way overturned the February 10, 2025 judgement of the same appellate court, which had reinstated the sacked APC-led local government chairmen and councillors.
Quoting the lead judgement by Justice Obiorah, she pointed out: “The sudden attempt to resurrect this appeal through this same court will only lead to confusion and this Court will resist such attempt to lure it to unwittingly sit on Appeal in CA/AK/270/2022.” Adewusi explained that the referenced case—CA/AK/270/2022—was the same appeal that, in its February 10, 2025 judgement, had declared the removal of APC-elected local government officials by Governor Adeleke as unlawful.
She described Friday’s ruling as a legal reaffirmation of that earlier decision. “This is a clear revalidation of the February judgement. The PDP failed to challenge that ruling through a higher appeal, and that omission has now fatally damaged any realistic hope they had of regaining control of the local government administration in Osun State,” she said.
The APC stalwart cautioned the state government against distorting the implications of the appellate ruling, warning that doing so could heighten political tensions in Osun State. “Attempts to attach extraneous meanings to an otherwise straightforward court ruling could ignite unnecessary political unrest in the state,” she cautioned.
In a show of solidarity, Adewusi further pledged her commitment to supporting the reinstated APC chairmen and councillors in Ijesa South Federal Constituency, covering Atakumosa East, Atakumosa West, Ilesa East, and Ilesa West local government areas. She vowed to collaborate with them as they seek to reclaim their mandates and re-establish their roles in grassroots governance.
She concluded by urging Governor Adeleke to seek proper legal counsel and respect judicial processes rather than relying on politically motivated interpretations that could destabilise the already tense political atmosphere in the state.