Governor Adeleke
The Federal Government has asked the Supreme Court to compel the Osun State Government to refund seven months’ worth of statutory allocations meant for its local government councils.
In a filing made by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Government claims Osun must return the withheld allocations to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The request was presented by Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel to the AGF, in response to a suit filed by Osun State.
Osun State had earlier sued the Attorney General of the Federation, alleging that the Federal Government failed to release the statutory allocation due to its 30 local government councils for March 2025.
The case, marked SC/CV/379/2025, was filed solely against the AGF.
In its claim, the Osun State Government asserted that when it contacted the Ministry of Finance for clarification on the delay, the Minister of Finance, Wale Odun, responded by saying he was acting based on directives from the Attorney General of the Federation.
However, Fagbemi denied the allegation and questioned the legal basis of Osun’s suit.
He described the lawsuit as an abuse of court process and argued that Osun State had acted in defiance of an earlier Supreme Court judgment dated July 11, 2024.
In a strongly worded response, the AGF’s office argued that:
“The plaintiff is not entitled to be heard due to contempt. The plaintiff has no right of appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision.”
“The case does not present a genuine dispute to trigger the court’s original jurisdiction under Section 232(1) of the Constitution. The plaintiff has no locus standi to sue on behalf of local governments.”
Fagbemi further argued that only the local governments themselves not the state government can initiate legal action over unpaid funds:
“If any LG has been wrongly deprived of its funds, it is the council itself, not the state government that has the right to sue.”
The AGF maintained that Osun State had no constitutional authority to present itself as a legal representative or “watchdog” over local government finances.
To support the AGF’s position, a counter-affidavit was filed by Taye Oloyede, the Special Assistant to the President, who affirmed that neither the AGF nor the Minister of Finance had issued any directive to withhold Osun’s LG allocations.
The AGF’s legal team also criticized Osun’s reliance on the 2004 Supreme Court ruling in AG Lagos State v. AG Federation, arguing that the circumstances in that case were different and did not justify the current claim.
Fagbemi contended “The plaintiff has incorrectly depended on the 2004 Supreme Court case of AG Lagos State v. AG Federation, where the court mandated the release of withheld funds to Lagos State.”
