The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the suit filed by the Osun State Government against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, over the alleged withholding of statutory allocations due to the state’s 30 local government councils.
The apex court decided on Tuesday after hearing submissions from counsel to both parties Mr. Musbau Adetunbi, SAN, representing the Osun Government, and Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, representing the AGF.
Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, who led the seven-member panel of justices, said that the date for the delivery of judgment would be communicated to the parties in due course.
The Osun State Government had approached the Supreme Court seeking an order compelling the Federal Government to release all withheld allocations and to stop what it described as an “unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure” of local government funds.
In the originating summons, the state presented ten reliefs and eleven grounds supported by a 35-paragraph affidavit. It accused the AGF of unlawfully withholding funds due to the councils since March 2025, following a political dispute over the legitimacy of local government officials.
Adetunbi, SAN, argued that the AGF acted in violation of subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, delivered on November 30, 2022, and the Court of Appeal’s ruling of June 13, 2025, which affirmed the legality of the local government elections conducted on February 22.
He maintained that the AGF’s March 26, 2025, directive advising that the funds be withheld was unconstitutional and amounted to executive interference in local government administration.
The state urged the court to declare that the AGF lacks the constitutional power to seize or suspend local government allocations, noting that such action contravenes Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandates the enforcement of court judgments.
It further prayed the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the AGF and other federal agencies from future seizures and to order the immediate release of all withheld funds directly to the accounts of the 30 local councils.
However, the AGF, through his counsel, Chief Olujimi, SAN, filed a preliminary objection urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit for lack of locus standi, arguing that the dispute was primarily political and therefore outside the original jurisdiction of the court.
The AGF contended that the plaintiff had failed to establish that the Federal Government acted beyond its powers, insisting that the issue stemmed from internal political wrangling within the state.
Meanwhile, the Osun State Government also filed a separate suit at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, challenging the transfer of a related case on the same matter to Abuja by the state’s Chief Judge. The state argued that such a transfer, while the Supreme Court was already seized of the issue, could lead to conflicting judicial outcomes.
The government described the AGF’s action as “an affront to the rule of law,” referencing precedents such as A.G. Kano State v. A.G. Federation (2007) and RMAFC v. A.G. Rivers State (2023) to support its position.
Justice Aba-Aji subsequently adjourned the matter, noting that the date for judgment delivery would be communicated in due time.
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