By Emeka Blast 
AGF Urges Supreme Court to Recover 7 Months’ Local Government Allocation from Osun
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has called on the Supreme Court to compel the Osun State Government to refund seven months’ worth of local government (LG) allocations, alleging the state unlawfully collected and spent these funds between July 2024 and February 2025. The demand, filed through Fagbemi’s counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), responds to a suit by Osun State (SC/CV/379/2025), which accused the Federal Government of withholding March 2025 allocations for its 30 LG councils. Fagbemi described Osun’s actions as “egregious contempt” of a July 11, 2024, Supreme Court ruling mandating direct payment of LG funds to councils, not through state governments.
Osun’s suit, filed by its Attorney General, claimed that the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, withheld funds under Fagbemi’s directive. However, in a counter-affidavit by Taye Oloyede, Special Assistant to the President, Fagbemi denied issuing any such order, stating that direct payments require LGs to submit account details to the Ministry of Finance, which Osun allegedly failed to do. The AGF argued that Osun’s lawsuit lacks merit, as the state has no legal standing to sue on behalf of LGs and is in contempt of the Supreme Court’s ruling in AGF v. AG Abia State & Ors (SC/CV/343/2024), where Osun was Defendant 29. Fagbemi urged the court to order Osun to repay all LG funds collected during the period to the Minister of Finance for proper disbursement.
The dispute stems from Osun’s alleged plan to divert LG funds for state-level health and education programs, violating the Supreme Court’s autonomy ruling. The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Ogungbile Adeola Olusola, claimed in an affidavit that withholding funds threatens LG operations and state governance, citing hardship to citizens. However, Fagbemi countered that Osun’s reliance on the 2004 AG Lagos State v. AG Federation case is misplaced due to differing legal contexts. The AGF’s five-ground preliminary objection argues that Osun’s suit lacks jurisdiction under Section 232(1) of the Constitution and that only LGs, not states, can seek redress for unpaid allocations.
The controversy is further complicated by Osun’s local government election disputes. A Federal High Court ruling on November 30, 2022, nullified the October 2022 LG elections, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal on January 13, 2025. Despite this, Osun conducted new elections in February 2025, which the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) claims are invalid, asserting that chairmen elected in 2022 remain legitimate. Reports indicate Osun has withdrawn its suit, with a Supreme Court hearing for the withdrawal scheduled for September 2025.
