The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has accused the leadership of the Joint Labour Movement in the state of planning a violent protest in support of the state government over the local government allocation impasse.
The party alleged that those behind the plot were planning to stage the protest at branches of a commercial bank in Osogbo, the state capital, during which some staff members would be abducted.
To achieve the plan, the party further alleged that the labour movement had instructed the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees to mobilise 20 staff per local government to join the protest slated for Tuesday.
The APC, in a statement signed by its Director of Media, Kola Olabisi, said the planned Joint Labour Movement protest followed a meeting labour leaders held with some top officials of the state government.
It called on security agencies in the state to pay close attention to the activities of labour leaders and ensure that public peace was not breached.
“Part of the plots is to picket the bank, kidnap recalcitrant workers and disrupt commercial activities in the branches of the bank. There’s no plausible reason under the sun why the Joint Labour Movement should continue to make itself a laughing stock in the estimation of right-thinking members of society by even contemplating any protest over the autonomy granted to local government councils nationwide by the Supreme Court judgment.
“One wonders the quality of the legal advice being given to the Osun State Joint Labour Movement that it is impossible for them to know that the issues forming the basis of their proposed action, particularly regarding the operation of local government accounts and the determination of rightful signatories, are currently the subject of multiple pending proceedings before competent courts of law in this country,” the statement read.
The party cautioned the Joint Labour Movement against allowing itself to be used as agents of destruction and a breach of peace and order.
However, reacting in a statement obtained on Sunday in Osogbo, signed by Christopher Arapasopo, Abimbola Fasasi, and Lekan Adediran, chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and the Joint Negotiating Council respectively, the labour movement described the APC’s claims as misleading.
Confirming plans to picket the bank, the labour movement said it had no intention of engaging in any form of violence during the protest.
“The attention of the Joint Labour Movement in Osun State, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), has been drawn to a misleading, inflammatory, and wholly unfounded press statement credited to the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging a planned violent protest by labour union against the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
“We categorically state that the claims contained in the said publication are false, malicious, and a calculated attempt to misinform security agencies and the general public, intimidate workers, and discredit the legitimate and lawful actions of organised labour.
“The planned picketing exercise remains a peaceful, lawful, and globally recognised industrial action, consistent with the rights of workers as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and international labour standards to which Nigeria is a signatory,” the statement read.
The labour groups described as unfortunate “that a political party would descend to the level of fabricating allegations such as ‘kidnapping,’ ‘destruction,’ and ‘criminal intent’ in a desperate bid to create unnecessary tension within the state, mislead security agencies into unjustified confrontation with law-abiding workers, and undermine the collective struggle of workers seeking fairness, transparency, and adherence to due process.”
PUNCH Online reports that the APC and the Osun State Government have been at loggerheads over the control of council areas in the state since February 2025.
At the peak of the crisis, six people, including the then Chairman of Irewole Local Government Area, Remi Abbas, were killed as chairmen elected on the platform of the APC clashed with members of the Peoples Democratic Party, which controlled the state government at the time.
The parties involved in the matter are before different courts seeking judicial validation of their positions, but the chairmen elected on the platform of the APC are currently managing the affairs of the council areas in the state.
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