Osun State Governor Adeleke Declares Public Holiday

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has declared Tuesday a work-free day for all public servants in the state to enable them collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

The directive was announced in a statement issued on Monday by the governor’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed.

This applies to all categories of public servants, including local government workers and staff of tertiary institutions. The approval was conveyed in a circular signed by the Head of Service, Elder Ayanleye Aina, who said the work-free day was intended to allow workers perform their civic responsibility before the forthcoming governorship poll and future elections in the state.

The circular, however, exempted workers on essential duties such as medical personnel and security operatives, urging them to make internal arrangements to ensure that critical services are not disrupted.

Governor Adeleke called on all eligible voters to take advantage of the work-free day to collect their voter cards without delay, stressing that the governorship election would play a significant role in shaping the future of Osun State.

“I encourage all registered voters to visit the collection points without delay. Your vote is your power. Your voter card is your licence to the ballot paper and, by extension, the ballot box,” the governor said.

The announcement comes a day after reports of renewed violence at the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, where suspected thugs allegedly defied the state government’s suspension of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) activities across Osun.

Eyewitnesses claimed armed police officers escorted the suspected thugs to the park despite the government’s directive banning union operations. They alleged that gunshots were fired and teargas was used during the incident, forcing residents and motorists to flee.

A source familiar with the incident alleged that security personnel acted against the state’s efforts to restore peace.

“The governor’s order is to ensure normalcy is restored to the parks. Imagine that the police that should be concerned about peace now escort thugs to go against the governor’s order. It is an unfortunate situation,” the source said.

Another source claimed personnel of the Nigerian Navy later intervened and arrested four suspected thugs allegedly found with pump-action guns after taking control of the park.

The violence followed Governor Adeleke’s recent directive suspending all NURTW activities in motor parks across the state over recurring clashes. He ordered security agencies to arrest anyone operating in the name of the union while making it clear that commercial transport activities should continue.

“I hereby direct the police and other security agencies to stop all activities of the union in all our parks across the state. I am not saying you should close the parks, but you should not allow anyone to operate in the parks in the name of the union. Anyone found contravening this order should be arrested for possible prosecution for disturbance of public peace,” the governor had said.

The Osun State Government later clarified that the suspension did not amount to dissolving the state’s NURTW leadership, insisting that Nurudeen Alowonle remains the substantive chairman of the union in the state.

The latest developments come less than three weeks before Osun residents head to the polls to elect a governor on August 15.