The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the case filed by the Osun State Government against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over the withholding of statutory allocations for the state’s 30 local government councils.1
A seven-man panel of justices, led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, reserved the judgment after hearing arguments from both sides on Tuesday.2 The date for the judgment will be communicated to the parties later.
Background of the Case:
The Osun State Government sued the AGF for withholding the local government funds since March 2025.3 The state government’s counsel, Musbau Adetunbi, argued that the AGF’s actions were unconstitutional and ignored a Federal High Court and Court of Appeal judgment that nullified the October 2022 local government elections.4
The state is seeking several reliefs, including:
- A declaration that the AGF lacks the constitutional power to seize local government funds.5
- An order compelling the Federal Government to immediately release all the withheld funds.6
- An order restraining the AGF from further seizing, suspending, or withholding the state’s local government allocations.7
In opposition, the AGF’s counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi, argued that the suit should be dismissed.8 He contended that the Supreme Court lacked the original jurisdiction to hear the case, and that the Osun State Attorney-General had engaged in an abuse of court processes by filing similar cases in multiple courts. Olujimi also argued that the tenure of the disputed APC chairmen was still running until October 22, and they were the rightful recipients of the funds.9
