The Attorney General has urged the Supreme Court to mandate the Osun State Government to return seven months’ worth of local government allocations.
The Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu has withheld approximately ₦469 billion in statutory allocations to the 30 local government councils in Osun State for four months, igniting a legal confrontation with the state government.
Osun State, through its Attorney General, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court, alleging that the federation failed to release the allocation for March 2025 and beyond. In reply, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, urged the apex court to compel the state to refund seven months’ worth of allocations received from July 2024 to February 2025.
Fagbemi, represented by Chief Akin Olujimi SAN and through affidavit by Taye Oloyede, denied withholding funds, stating that neither he nor the Finance Minister authorised such action, and that Osun failed to show that local governments submitted account details. He argued: “Only LGs, not state governments, can seek redress for unpaid allocations. If any LG has been wrongly deprived of its funds, it is the council itself, not the state government that has the right to sue.”
Osun State insists its councils are owed and is pressing forward with legal action.