The Osun State Government has filed a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court over the alleged withholding of monthly allocations to its local government councils.
In the suit marked SC/CV/379/2025 and filed on April 23 by Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, on behalf of the state’s Attorney General, Osun is seeking an order for the immediate release of allocations for the months of February, March, and April 2025. The suit names the Attorney General of the Federation as the sole defendant.
The state government argues that the continued seizure of funds without justification violates the Nigerian Constitution, particularly Sections 162 and 7, which guarantee statutory financial allocations to local governments and the existence of democratically elected councils.
Osun is also asking the court to declare the Federal Government’s actions unconstitutional, unlawful, and a threat to local governance and state operations. It is seeking further orders restraining the FG from continuing the alleged withholding of funds.
In an affidavit of urgency sworn by the state Commissioner for Finance, Ogungbile Adeola Olusola, the state warned that the continued seizure of local government funds could cripple essential services such as education and healthcare.
If the defendant is not urgently restrained, the local government councils would not be able to function and perform their constitutional obligations,” the affidavit stated.
The legal move follows allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration conducted illegal local government elections on February 22, 2025. The APC had called on the Federal Government to suspend allocations, citing a subsisting judgment against the election process.
However, the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) maintain that the elections were valid, pointing to an appeal dismissed by the Court of Appeal on January 13, 2025, due to lack of diligent prosecution by the APC.
The Court of Appeal is currently considering an application by the APC to relist its appeal challenging the sacking of its council officials, a case originally decided in November 2022. No date has been fixed for ruling.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Osun has urged the Federal Government not to withhold local government allocations over the ongoing political dispute.
No hearing date has been set for the Supreme Court case.
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