Osun Drags AGF to Supreme Court Over Withheld Council Funds

The Osun State Government has taken a fresh legal battle to the Supreme Court against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over the alleged unlawful seizure of statutory allocations belonging to its 30 local government councils since March 2025.

The new suit, filed on Monday, follows an earlier application by the state government to withdraw a similar case previously instituted against the AGF.

In the originating summons, the state, through its Attorney-General and a team of senior lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), is asking the apex court to compel the Federal Government to release the withheld funds. The government described the act as “an unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure” of revenues that should rightfully go to the councils.

According to the Osun Attorney-General, the AGF disregarded judgments delivered by the Federal High Court, Osogbo, on November 30, 2022, and by the Court of Appeal on June 13, 2025. Both rulings upheld the legitimacy of the council chairmen and councillors elected on February 22, 2025.

The state maintained that despite these rulings, the AGF wrote a letter on March 26, 2025, advising that the allocations be withheld pending the resolution of what he described as a “local government crisis.” But Osun argued that the appellate court ruling had already settled the matter, nullifying the October 2022 elections conducted under the previous administration.

Among its reliefs, the state is seeking declarations that the AGF lacks the constitutional authority to seize local government funds, that his directive contradicts valid court judgments, and that all withheld allocations be paid directly into the accounts of the duly elected councils. Osun is also asking for a perpetual injunction to restrain further seizures.

“The seizure, suspension, withholding and/or refusal to pay the allocations and revenues due to the constituent local government councils of the plaintiff state… is unconstitutional, unlawful, wrongful and ultra vires the powers of the defendant,” the state’s filing reads.

The government also posed five questions for determination before the Supreme Court, including whether the AGF is constitutionally bound under Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to enforce the rulings of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, and whether his March 26, 2025 directive to withhold funds can stand in the face of the appellate judgment.

In a parallel move, Osun has also filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Osogbo, contesting the Chief Judge’s decision to transfer an earlier case on the same funds from Osogbo to Abuja for hearing by a vacation judge.

The state cautioned that proceeding with the Abuja matter while the Supreme Court case is pending could lead to conflicting judgments.

In an affidavit, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Olufemi Akande Ogundun, described the Federal Government’s action as “an affront to the rule of law,” stressing that only the Supreme Court has the authority to conclusively determine the constitutional questions. He cited precedents including A.G. Kano State v. A.G. Federation (2007) and RMAFC v. A.G. Rivers State (2023).

Osun further accused the AGF of creating a “self-induced urgency,” pointing out that he failed to respond to originating processes for more than 80 days before suddenly filing an affidavit of urgency on August 13, 2025.

The state argued that the Chief Judge’s transfer order “casts the lot of the court with the AGF” and risks raising suspicions of bias.