By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A right group, Network of Civil Society Groups, has demanded restoration of constitutional order in the administration of local government across Osun State.

The groups’ convener, Mr Olanrewaju Stephen while speaking with newsmen in Osogbo on Monday regarding the situation across Osun local government council, he said it is illegal for APC “Yes or No Chairmen and Councilors”, to continue to remain political heads of local government councils in the State.

According to him, if the council officials had any tenure to lay claim to, such tenure expired by October 26, 2025. A fact which was confirmed by the Attorney-General of the federation in a suit before the Supreme Court.

“More instructively, the same court sacked APC chairmen and councillors admitted to the expiration of their tenure when they filed a tenure-elongation suit at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, in suit number FHC/OS/CS/147/2025 seeking judicial extension of their time in office”.

While conceding that the APC officials have filed a tenure elongation suit before the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo which is yet to be heard, he said, “their continued stay in the council secretariats after 26th October 2025 is illegal, unconstitutional, and contemptuous of court”.

The group then demanded that the continued occupation of the local government secretariats by tenure-expired and court-sacked officials is not just illegal but tantamount to political banditry.

“We demand that the Nigeria Police Force must immediately withdraw all protection from these illegal occupants and desist from enforcing lawlessness.

“Brazen violation of the Constitution and open defiance of court judgments pose a grave threat to democratic governance, the rule of law, and public order in Osun State. Nigeria cannot afford to normalise illegality, especially at the grassroots level of governance.

“We call on all relevant authorities to act urgently to restore constitutional order and uphold the sanctity of the rule of law”, he said.