Osun State Government has filed a suit at the Supreme Court against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) over alleged unlawful withholding of statutory allocations meant for its 30 local government councils since March 2025.
In the originating summons filed on Monday on behalf of Osun State by a team of lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, the state is asking the apex court to compel the Federal Government to release all withheld funds and to stop what it described as “an unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure” of local government allocations.
The plaintiff, Attorney General of Osun State, argued that the AGF failed to comply with subsisting judgments of both the Federal High Court, Osogbo Division, delivered on November 30, 2022, and the Court of Appeal ruling of June 13, 2025, which recognised the local government chairmen and councillors elected on February 22, 2025.
The originating summons is supported by a 35-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Ogungbile Adeola Olusola.
According to the summons, the AGF, on March 26, 2025, had advised that the funds be withheld pending resolution of what he described as a local government crisis in Osun.
However, Osun State insists that the Court of Appeal ruling settled the matter, affirming the legitimacy of the February 2025 elections, and nullifying the October 15, 2022, local government polls conducted under the previous administration.
The state is seeking multiple declarations, including that the AGF has no constitutional power to withhold local council allocations or to act in contravention of valid court judgments.
It also wants the Supreme Court to order the immediate release of all allocations withheld since March, to be paid directly into the accounts of the duly elected councils, among others.
Simultaneously, the state has filed another suit at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, challenging the decision of the court to transfer an earlier case on the funds from Osogbo to Abuja for hearing.
The suit, originally adjourned till November 2025, sought to stop moves by the Federal Government to pay the allocations to court-sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) council officials.
On August 25, 2025, Osun State Attorney General, through counsel, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), filed a motion before the Federal High Court, Osogbo, seeking a stay of proceedings in that Suit No: FHC/OS/CS/94/2025 pending determination of the fresh Supreme Court case.
The state warned that proceeding with the case at the lower court while the apex court was on the matter could result in conflicting judgments.
The Osun government is also opposing a directive of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, contained in a letter dated August 21, 2025, transferring the case from Osogbo to Abuja to be heard by a vacation judge.
In its motion on notice, the state asked the court to set aside the “purported fiat,” arguing that it violated both the court’s rules and the Chief Judge’s own vacation notice of May 28, 2025, which designated Lagos as the nearest vacation court for cases from Osogbo.
With the matter now before the Supreme Court, the state government has urged the judiciary to halt all lower court proceedings until the apex court resolves the substantive issues.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suits.
Guardian Newspapers
Follow the OSUNDOTLIFE channel on WhatsApp