The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the suit filed by the Osun State Government against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) over the alleged withholding of local government funds due to the state.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Uwani Abba Aji, reserved judgment after hearing arguments from Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), counsel for the Osun State Attorney General, and Akin Olujimi (SAN), who represented the AGF.
The Osun State Government accused the Federal Government of blocking statutory allocations to its 30 local government councils since March 2025. The state is seeking a declaration that the action is unconstitutional, an order for the immediate release of the funds—running into tens of billions of naira—and a directive restraining the Federal Government from further withholding local government allocations.
However, counsel to the Federal Government, Olujimi, urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Osun Attorney General lacked the legal standing to initiate the case. He also contended that the matter should not have been filed directly before the apex court, citing jurisdictional issues.
Olujimi further noted that the tenure of the current local government chairmen in Osun would expire on October 22, insisting that any funds released should be administered by the incumbents. He added that similar cases concerning the same funds were already pending before seven different High Courts.
The Federal Government had reportedly frozen Osun’s local government accounts following questions over the legitimacy of the council elections conducted earlier in the year, in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all seats.
In its defence, the Osun State Government maintained that the elections were validly conducted and had been upheld by both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
