The Supreme Court of Nigeria has reserved judgment in a suit filed by the Osun State Government against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) over the alleged withholding of local government allocations due to the state.
A seven-man panel of Justices led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji reserved judgment to a date that will be communicated to the parties after listening to arguments from both sides on Monday.
The Attorney-General of Osun State instituted the suit, invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The state is seeking an order compelling the AGF to release statutory allocations to the 30 local government areas and their elected chairmen and councillors.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), argued that the AGF acted unlawfully by recognizing the suspended All Progressives Congress (APC) local government chairmen, despite a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court nullifying their election — a verdict that was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
Adetunbi urged the apex court to uphold Osun State’s position, restrain the AGF from further withholding or diverting local government funds, and grant all reliefs sought by the plaintiff.
However, Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation, opposed the suit and asked the court to dismiss it on several grounds.
Olujimi contended that the Osun State government lacked the legal capacity to invoke the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, arguing that the case did not fall within the constitutional matters the apex court can directly entertain.
He further maintained that the plaintiff failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action, adding that the tenure of the disputed APC local government chairmen runs until October 22, and that the withheld funds should rightfully be released to them for administrative use.
The AGF’s counsel also accused the Osun government of abusing judicial processes by filing multiple suits in different courts on the same subject matter.
He therefore urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit in its entirety and decline all the reliefs sought.
After hearing both parties, Justice Abba-Aji announced that the court would reserve judgment and communicate the date of delivery in due course.
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