Supreme Court has dismissed the case filed by the Osun attorney-general against the federal government over unpaid allocations meant for the state’s 30 local government areas.
Gatekeepers News reports that the judgment, delivered on Friday in a six-to-one split, held that the Osun attorney-general lacked the legal authority to take up the matter on behalf of the councils.
In the suit marked SC/CV/775/2025, Osun State asked the court to compel the Attorney General of the Federation to obey earlier rulings that affirmed the election of council officials chosen on February 22, 2025.
The state also sought an order stopping the federal government from releasing statutory funds to members of the All Progressives Congress who were removed from office after their October 15, 2022, election was voided by the federal high court and later by the court of appeal.
Osun further requested that all withheld monthly allocations be paid directly to the councils led by officials elected in February and sworn in the following day.
Another request before the court was for a perpetual injunction preventing further seizure of funds belonging to the democratically elected councils.
Reading the lead judgment, Mohammed Idris said only the elected council chairpersons have the standing to sue or be sued in matters relating to their allocations.
He noted that there was no proof that the Osun attorney-general had been instructed by the councils to act on their behalf, rendering the case improperly initiated.
The court also ruled that the federal government acted wrongly by holding back the council funds. It struck out the contempt accusation raised by the Attorney-General of the Federation and stated that it was the AGF who committed contempt by withholding the money.
In the lone dissenting view, Emmanuel Agim held that the Osun attorney-general had the authority to file the case on behalf of the councils.
He said the federal government’s conduct was improper and warned that denying councils access to their funds could cripple governance at the grassroots.
