10/07/2025
Osun LG funds: Supreme Court reserves judgement in state’s suit against AGF
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The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in a suit seeking to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from releasing the withheld Osun state Local Government funds to the disputed Local Government Chairmen and Councilors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Uwani Aba’aji, who led a seven member panel of Justices of the apex court in the Tuesday’s proceedings, reserved judgement in the matter after taking arguments from counsel to the Osun state Attorney General, Musbau Adetunbi, SAN, and Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN who represented the AGF, announced that the date for the judgement in the suit Numbered, SC/CV/773/2025 would be communicated to the two parties in the matter.
In the suit, the Osun state Attorney General, who is the plaintiff in the matter, sought an order of the apex court restraining the AGF from paying the statutory allocations standing to the credit of the 30 Local Governments in Osun state to the sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors.
The Osun Attorney General also sought an order of the apex court directing the AGF to immediately release the “monthly allocations and revenues due to and standing to the credit of the Constituent Local Government Councils of Osun state for all the months they have been unlawfully and unjustifiably withheld by the AGF and pay same directly into the Local Government allocation accounts to be opened in favour of the validly elected Local Government Council officials elected on February 22, 2025”.
Besides, the plaintiff who invoked Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction based on a letter according recognition to the disputed APC Chairmen and Councilors, also sought an order stopping the AGF from further withholding, suspending or seizing monthly allocations and revenues standing to the credit of the Constituents Local Governments, having democratically elected Chairmen and Councilors in place.
The grouse of the Osun state Attorney General was that the AGF was wrong in his letter recognising APC Local Government Chairmen and Councilors when the matter was pending before court of records. He described the action as an attempt by the AGF to destroy the subject matter of the plaintiff.
He also hinged his case on the ground that the election that brought in the APC officials as Local Government Chairmen and Councilors had been nullified by a Federal High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
Adetunbi, while presenting the case of the plaintiff, pleaded with the seven-member panel of Justices to uphold his arguments and grant all the reliefs sought by his client.
However, in opposition, the AGF represented by Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, argued a preliminary objection where he urged the apex court to dismiss the case of the plaintiff on various grounds.
Among others, Olujimi argued that the plaintiff lacked locus standing (Legal right) to bring the case before the Supreme Court to invoke its original jurisdiction.
He also contended that the apex court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit because the suit was not competent to be presented directly to the apex court as done by the plaintiff.
The senior lawyer argued that the suit did not disclose any cause of action, adding that the tenure of the disputed council chairmen is still running till October 22, 2025 and that the proper thing was for the statutory allocation to be released to the officials to run the Council.
Similarly, he argued that Osun state Attorney General had engaged in abuse of court processes by filing cases in about seven high courts on the same subject with the same parties.
He therefore urged the court to refuse granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiff and dismiss the suit in its entirety for lacking in merit.
Credit: Nigerian Tribune