Osun PDP wants suspicious letters on LG funds’ case probed

As the crisis rocking local government administration in Osun State lingers, the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to probe the circumstances surrounding a controversial letter dated September 2, 2025, allegedly issued from his office in connection with the stalemate at the third tier of governance in the state.

The letter purportedly directed that a case before a vacation judge be heard by that judge substantively even after the vacation.

Earlier, the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had accused the state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Christopher Arapasopo, of promoting labour unrest in the state.

According to the major opposition party, Arapasopo is “grossly not being empathetic towards the plight of the members of the state National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) who have been on sympathy strike with the state Governor Ademola Adeleke for seven months running.”

But addressing a press conference in Osogbo yesterday on the ongoing legal tussle, the state PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, said the letter was signed not by a judge but by an unidentified individual on behalf of a personal aide of the Chief Judge. He described the letter and its circumstances as “a bizarre and unprecedented abuse of judicial process.”

According to the PDP, the suspicious letter was written even though no party before the court had applied for such a transfer. The party also alleged that the letter may have been backdated to achieve political ends, warning that such action, if confirmed, would amount to a grievous injury to the nation’s judicial integrity.

The PDP chairman said that it was the second letter that would be issued on that case by non-judicial officers who claimed to be working in the office of the Chief Judge. “We are calling for nothing less than a thorough probe of those letters. Assignment of cases is a judicial decision. Judicial powers cannot be exercised by proxies or by personal assistants. They are reserved exclusively for judicial officers (judges). Unfortunately, that is the abnormal situation we are confronted with and which informed this press conference.

“On the 21st of August, 2025, a letter was issued and signed by one Joshua Ibrahim Aji, Esq., who described himself as Special Assistant to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. In that letter, judicial functions were purportedly exercised, assigning a judicial duty to a judge of the court. This is a gross aberration. A Special Assistant is not a judicial officer, and judicial powers cannot be exercised either directly or by delegation through such an aide.

“To make matters worse, another letter emerged dated 2nd September 2025. That one was not even signed by the so-called Special Assistant. It was signed by an unknown, unnamed individual, on behalf of the Special Assistant. The letter purported to assign a case to a judge, something that can never lawfully be done by anyone other than a judicial officer. Even more suspicious, that letter was delivered to the Osun State counsel on the 11th of September, 2025, more than a week after it was purportedly signed. We have every reason to suspect that that letter may have been backdated to achieve political ends. This suspicion is strong because when the case came up on September 8, 2025, in Abuja, neither the court nor the party to which it was addressed spoke about the letter. This is bizarre, unprecedented, and unacceptable.

“The law is very clear. The power to transfer a matter from one judge of the Federal High Court to another is provided for under the Federal High Court Act. Such a transfer can only be sought through a formal application, in open court, before the presiding judge handling the matter. It cannot be done through secret letters or shadowy signatures.

“In the 21st August letter, the office of the Chief Judge even suggested that the case would become “nugatory” if not heard during vacation. But that is a question of fact and law that must be determined in open court with all parties heard. For an administrative letter to prejudge the issue shows bias and prejudice, and compromises the independence of the judiciary.

“The abuse of power becomes even clearer when we note that the 2nd September letter was addressed directly to Akin Olujinmi, SAN, counsel to the 3rd Defendant (the Attorney-General of the Federation) at a time when that defendant had already been withdrawn from the matter and had ceased to be a party in the case. How can the office of the Chief Judge be writing letters to a party that had no proper process before the court? This is strange, bizarre, and deeply troubling.

“We are left to wonder: why is the office of the Chief Judge afraid to have this case heard in the Osogbo Division of the Federal High Court, where it was filed? Why this backdoor manipulation of the process by persons unknown to the law?

“Our position is clear: this matter must be returned to the regular Federal High Court in Osogbo. Any application for transfer must be made openly before the regular presiding judge. That is the law. Anything else is illegal.”

“We, the People’s Democratic Party in Osun State, therefore, call on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to immediately probe these irregularities. He must investigate how and why persons, purportedly working in his office, who are not judicial officers, are signing letters that carry the force of judicial authority. We demand accountability. We demand transparency. Above all, we demand respect for the rule of law,” he said.