?State drags AGF Fagbemi to Supreme Court

THE crisis over the control of local government councils in Osun State between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) has boiled over, with the state government dragging the Federal Government to the Supreme Court for allegedly seizing the monthly allocations accruing to the councils.

Osun State local government allocations for the months of February, March and April 2025 are reportedly withheld, while that of May has not yet been determined.

The suit dated 23 April 2025 marked SC/CV/379/2025 filed by Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, counsel for the Attorney General of Osun State (plaintiff), has the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as the sole defendant.

The state government approached the Supreme Court for an order directing the federal government to release the seized funds and for further orders restraining it from further withholding, suspending and for seizing fund allocations to the local government councils in the state.

In an originating summons filed on 24 April, 2025, the state government is asking the Supreme Court to determine the following questions:

Whether upon a proper construction of the provisions of Section 162 (3), (5), (6) and (8) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) via-a-vis the decisions of this Honourable Court in A.G. Lagos State V. A.G. Federation (2004) 18 NWLR (PART 904) 1 and A.G. Federation V. A.G. Abia State (2024) 17 NWLR (PART 1966) 1; the defendant can withhold, seize and/or suspend payment of the monthly allocations, revenues and other funds due to the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state without any justification whatsoever, notwithstanding the fact that the plaintiff state has in place, at all-time material to this suit, democratically elected local government councils?

Upon a proper construction of Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which guarantees the existence and subsistence of democratically elected local government councils in all the states of the federation, including the plaintiff state, whether the act of the defendant in withholding, suspending and/or seizing the statutory allocations due to the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state without any justification whatsoever, does not pose a threat to the existence, governance and/or subsistence of the democratically elected local government councils in place in the plaintiff state and, by extension, the state generally, and thereby contravening the clear provisions of the constitution?

Whether the defendant, without any lawful justification and/or any valid or subsisting judgment/order of court whatsoever, can single out the plaintiff state herein and decide to withhold, suspend, seize and/or refuse to pay the monthly allocations and revenues standing to the credit of the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state, notwithstanding the fact that the plaintiff state has in place democratically elected local government councils in the state at all-time material to this suit?

The state government is praying the apex court to make the following declarations:

A declaration that the defendant has no right to withhold, suspend and/or seize the monthly allocations, revenues and/or other funds standing to the credit of the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state without any justification whatsoever, particularly in view of the fact that the plaintiff state has democratically elected local government councils in place at all-time material to this suit.

A declaration that the acts of the defendant withholding the monthly allocation and revenues due to the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state for the months of March 2025, without any justification whatsoever, despite the fact that the plaintiff has in place democratically elected local government councils at all-time material to this suit, as unconstitutional, unlawful and ultra vires the powers of the defendant.

A declaration that the seizure, suspension, withholding and/or refusal to pay the allocations and revenues due to the plaintiff state by the defendant is a threat to the existence and subsistence of the democratically elected local government councils which is in place in the plaintiff state at all-time material to this suit.

A declaration that insofar as the defendant is yet to commence implementation of the Judgment of this Honourable Court in Suit No.: SC/CV/343/2024 between A.G. Federation V. A.G. Abia State & Ors. by putting in place necessary logistics to ensure direct payment of the allocations and revenues due to each local government council of the states, the plaintiff cannot be singled out by the defendant for non-payment of its local government allocation while other states in the federation continue to receive payment of the local government allocation for and on behalf of their local government councils.

An order directing the defendant to release forthwith to the plaintiff, the monthly allocations and revenues due to its constituent local government councils for the months of March 2025 which have been unlawfully and unjustifiably withheld by the defendant into its state joint local government accounts.

An order directing the defendant to continue paying the allocation, revenues and other funds due to the local government councils of the plaintiff state through the plaintiff?s state joint local government accounts opened for that purpose pending the necessary logistics.

In an affidavit of extreme urgency deposed to by the Commissioner for Finance, Ogungbile Adeola Olusola, the state government, through the state Attorney General, said the suit was filed against the backdrop of the unjustifiable and unlawful withholding and seizure of the funds, allowances and revenues due to the local government councils from the federation account.

The plaintiff told the apex court that ?the continuous seizure of this fund by the federation would paralyse the education and health sectors of the plaintiff state if not urgently restrained by this honourable court, hence the plaintiff had contemporaneously filed an application for both interim and interlocutory injunctions alongside the originating summons in this suit?.

The Finance Commissioner said in the affidavit of urgency, sworn to on April 24, 2025 that the various local government councils in the plaintiff state need the allocations and revenue to function.

He said: ?I know that if the defendant is not urgently restrained from further withholding, suspending and seizing this fund, the local government councils would not be able to function and perform their constitutional obligations.

?I equally know as fact that the continuous seizure of this fund by the defendant would cripple the governance and subsistence of the local government councils in Osun State and, by extension, cripple the governance of the state itself.?

He said, ?The defendant, having withheld the allocation and revenue of the local government councils of Osun State of March, 2025 has caused hardship on the people of the state, and if the defendant is not urgently restrained, the monthly allocation for April, 2025 would also be withheld, suspended and seized and this will cause more and serious hardship on the people of the state.?

The deponent averred: ?It will satisfy the interest of justice and fairness if the motion ex parte for Interim Injunction is urgently heard and determined by the apex court so as to mitigate the hardship already being faced by the people of Osun State, due to the withholding, seizure and suspension of their local government councils? allocation and revenue.

?I depose to this affidavit in good faith, conscientiously believing same to be true, correct and in accordance with the Oaths Act.?

No date has been fixed for hearing of the case.

It will be recalled that the APC had, in February called on the Federal Government to withhold allocations to local government councils in the state, alleging illegal constitution of council heads by Governor Ademola Adeleke?s administration.

According to the APC, Governor Adeleke conducted a ?purported? local government election on February 22, 2025, ?in disregard of a valid and subsisting judgment of the Court of Appeal.?

The party?s spokesman, Felix Morka, said, ?In keeping with the rule of law, it is our expectation that the Federal Government will make federal allocation for local governments available only to democratically elected and judicially certified local government officials in Osun state.?

The state government and the PDP, however, countered the APC argument, pointing at a case the APC lost at the same Federal High Court, the appeal on which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 13 January 2025 for lack of diligent prosecution.

The Court of Appeal recently heard an application filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) praying the court to relist the appeal against the Federal High Court judgement which sacked its chairmen and councilors on 30 November, 2022.

Ruling on the application and on a preliminary objection filed by the respondents, Action Peoples Party and OSSIEC, has been adjourned till a date yet to be announced by the court.

Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) appealed to the Federal Government not to withhold allocations to the state?s local governments over the controversy surrounding the council elections. (Saturday Tribune)

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