Former local government political appointees in Ogun State have accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of betraying those who worked for his emergence in 2019, lamenting that 40 members of their group have died without receiving their outstanding severance packages.
The allegation came as garnishee proceedings continued on Wednesday at the Ibadan Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), with the court fixing the ruling on nine consolidated suits for the third week of November 2026.
The former political appointees are seeking to enforce a judgment debt arising from their service in local governments between 2012 and 2015. The outstanding liability, which they estimate to have exceeded ₦5.5 billion, includes interest accrued on the original judgment sum.
Speaking shortly after Wednesday’s proceedings, the group’s spokesperson, who identified himself simply as “Advocate,” expressed disappointment over what he described as the governor’s failure to honour commitments to those who supported his political campaign in 2019.
According to him, members of the group played significant roles in mobilising support for Abiodun’s emergence as governor, particularly by rallying political structures across the state and abandoning their previous allegiance to the camp of former governor Ibikunle Amosun.
“Our group played very significant roles in the election that ushered in the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun in 2019. We mobilised the nooks and crannies of the state for him and turned away from Senator Ibikunle Amosun,” he said.
Advocate alleged that Abiodun had promised to correct past injustices against members of the group but failed to fulfil those commitments after assuming office.
“Prince Dapo Abiodun CON promised to right the wrongs meted out to our people then, but never revisited his promises,” he said.
He also highlighted the contributions of youth political organisations that supported Abiodun’s emergence, particularly the Dapo Abiodun Youth Movement (DAYM), whose pioneer state coordinator, Comrade Nuberu Adesanya Olufemi, is now the publicity secretary of the ruling party.
According to the spokesperson, another prominent youth platform at the time was the Independent Campaign Group (ICG), led by Babayemi from Ewekoro Local Government Area.
He, however, alleged that despite the contributions of these groups, the former appointees were disappointed by the government’s handling of their demands for payment.
The spokesperson said the group’s most painful experience had been the deaths of 40 members while their entitlements remained unpaid.
“At the last count, 40 of our members have died. The most unfortunate were the four who died in active service of the group while we were returning from court last year,” he said.
He expressed concern that many of the affected former appointees had died without benefiting from the payments they had been pursuing for years.
Advocate further disclosed that the group had explored political and legislative avenues to resolve the dispute before resorting to litigation.
He said members had approached the Ogun State House of Assembly when it was led by former Speaker Kunle Oluomo and appealed to both former and serving members of the National Assembly from the state, but their efforts yielded no result.
The spokesperson also criticised the state government’s decision to challenge the earlier judgment, arguing that the government should have engaged the affected former appointees to examine the basis of their demands and explore an amicable settlement.
He said the government had appealed the judgment but lost, prompting the group to continue pursuing enforcement through the courts.
“One could have expected him to call us and set up a committee to look at the justification of our request. But rather than that, Prince Dapo Abiodun appealed the judgment. Thank God he lost,” he said.
Questioning the implications of the prolonged dispute for public accountability, Advocate asked whether a public official who allegedly failed to comply with a court decision could legitimately seek further legislative responsibilities.
“How can we be convinced that those who do not respect the decisions of courts of law have the moral right to be elected as lawmakers in the nation?” he queried.
The allegations came against the backdrop of a protracted legal battle over the payment of entitlements to former political office holders who served in local governments across Ogun State between 2012 and 2015.
On February 14, 2022, a lower court delivered a judgment directing the Ogun State Government to pay ₦3.2 billion to the affected former appointees, with interest accruing at 15 per cent annually until the debt is fully settled.
Following the government’s unsuccessful appeal, the judgment creditors estimate that the outstanding liability has risen above ₦5.5 billion due to accumulated interest.
The enforcement proceedings involve garnishee orders affecting 18 revenue-holding bank accounts linked to local governments across the state.
At an earlier hearing on Tuesday, the court considered fresh arguments in the dispute, with approximately 25 lawyers appearing for banks and other financial institutions involved in the proceedings.
Representatives of the state government and the affected local governments also appeared through the Ogun State Ministry of Justice.
During the hearing, counsel representing the state government argued that the amount being pursued by the judgment creditors exceeded the sum awarded by the court.
However, when the presiding judge requested the exact judgment sum, the lawyer was reportedly unable to provide the figure immediately.
Counsel to the judgment creditors, Romeo Ese Michael and Oladimeji Olowokere, subsequently drew the court’s attention to the original judgment and its provision for 15 per cent annual interest on the outstanding amount until full payment.
The garnishee proceedings followed an order issued approximately three months earlier affecting 18 revenue-holding accounts associated with the Ogun State Government and local governments in the state.
The court also issued an order nisi in favour of one of the judgment creditors, directing two banks to release more than ₦82 million in connection with the judgment debt.
An order nisi is a provisional court order that may become final if the relevant parties fail to establish sufficient grounds against it.
Government’s Position Awaited
At Wednesday’s proceedings, the Ogun State Government and the 20 local governments were represented by W.A. Onawole, a deputy director in the state Ministry of Justice, while the judgment creditors were represented by Romeo Ese Michael.
The court subsequently fixed the ruling on the nine consolidated suits for the third week of November 2026.
Efforts to obtain the state government’s reaction to the allegations through the Special Adviser to Governor Abiodun on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
Akinmade neither answered the telephone call placed to him nor responded to a message sent to him.
The state government’s position on the allegations by the former appointees was therefore unavailable at the time of publication.
