The Supreme Court of Nigeria has reserved judgment in a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to compel the Federal Government to release all withheld allocations belonging to the state’s Local Government Councils (LGCs).
The suit, marked SC/CV/775/2025, was heard by a seven-member panel of justices led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji.
Osun State’s Attorney-General, Mr. Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), argued that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) has acted arbitrarily by diverting local government funds to sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) officials who had been removed following court judgments that nullified their elections.
The state requested reliefs including a declaration that the AGF is constitutionally bound to enforce existing court rulings affirming the legitimacy of the councils elected on February 22, 2025.
Osun is also seeking an order to stop the AGF from paying withheld funds to the ousted officials and a perpetual injunction against future withholding of statutory allocations as long as democratically elected councils are in place.
The AGF, represented by former AGF Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), filed a preliminary objection challenging the suit’s competence.
He argued that the dispute is a political conflict rather than a legal issue suitable for the Supreme Court and that the suit lacks a cause of action and the plaintiff lacks locus standi.
Justice Abba-Aji announced that the judgment date would be communicated later after both parties adopted their briefs of argument.
Earlier in the proceedings, the Supreme Court struck out another related suit filed by Osun State before the AGF’s directive to release funds to the APC officials.
The withheld allocations dispute highlights ongoing tensions between the federal government and Osun State over control of local councils and the constitutional obligations regarding the management and disbursement of local government funds.
