The Osun State Government has filed a fresh lawsuit at the Supreme Court against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over the alleged illegal withholding of federal allocations meant for its 30 local government councils since March 2025.
The new legal action, initiated on Monday, follows the state’s earlier move to withdraw a previous suit on the same matter.
Represented by its Attorney-General and a legal team led by senior lawyers Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), the state is asking the apex court to compel the Federal Government to release the withheld funds and permanently stop what it describes as the “unconstitutional and arbitrary” seizure of local government revenues.
Osun argues that the AGF ignored binding judgments from both the Federal High Court in Osogbo (delivered November 30, 2022) and the Court of Appeal (June 13, 2025), which upheld the legitimacy of the local government elections held on February 22, 2025.
These rulings nullified earlier polls conducted in October 2022 under the previous state administration.
The state disclosed that the AGF, in a letter dated March 26, 2025, advised that local government funds be withheld due to a supposed “crisis” at the grassroots level.
However, Osun maintains that the court decisions have already resolved the legal questions around the legitimacy of the elected local officials.
In its suit, Osun is seeking a declaration that the AGF has no constitutional authority to withhold local government allocations, that the action violates valid court judgments, that all funds must be released directly into the accounts of the elected councils and a perpetual injunction be granted to prevent future seizures.
A portion of the court filing states:
“The seizure, suspension, withholding and/or refusal to pay the allocations and revenues due to the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state… is unconstitutional, unlawful, wrongful and ultra vires the powers of the defendant.”
The state is also asking the Supreme Court to determine whether the AGF is constitutionally obligated under Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to obey judgments of superior courts, and whether his March 26 directive can stand in light of the appellate court’s decision.
In a related development, the Osun Government has also filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Osogbo challenging the Chief Judge’s decision to transfer a case involving the same funds to Abuja, to be heard by a vacation judge.
The state warned that parallel proceedings could lead to conflicting outcomes.
In an affidavit, Olufemi Akande Ogundun, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, described the federal action as “an affront to the rule of law.”
He emphasized that only the Supreme Court can authoritatively resolve the constitutional issues at stake, citing precedents such as A.G. Kano State v. A.G. Federation (2007) and RMAFC v. A.G. Rivers State (2023).
The state further accused the AGF of creating a “self-induced urgency,” noting that he failed to respond to earlier court filings for over 80 days before submitting an urgent affidavit on August 13, 2025.
No hearing date has been set yet for the Supreme Court or Federal High Court proceedings.
