Osun drags AGF through the Court for retaining LGS allocations

The crisis for the control of the Councils of the Local Government in the State of Osun between the Democratic Party of people (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) has reached the peak, with the state government that drags the federal government through the Supreme Court for presumably seizing the monthly assignments that accumulate to the councils.

According to reports, the assignments of the local state government of Osun are retained for the months of February, March and April 2025, while that of May has not yet been determined.

The cause dated 23 April 2025 marked SC/CV/379/2025 presented by Musibau adequi, San, consultant for the prosecutor General of the State of Osun (plaintiff), has the general prosecutor of the Federation (AGF) as the only defendant.

The state government approached the Supreme Court for an order that addressed the Federal Government to issue the seized funds and for further orders that retain it from further withholding, suspend and/or seize the allocations of funds to the Councils of the local government in the State.

In a call of origin filed on April 24, 2025, the state government asks the Supreme Court to determine the following questions:

● both in a correct construction of the provisions of section 162 (3), (5), (6) and (8) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) the decisions of this honorable Court of Lagos State Vag Federation (2004) 18 NWLR (part 904) 1 and AG Federation Vag State (2024). Can the defendant retain, grasp and/or suspend the payment of monthly allocations, revenues and other funds due to the advice of the local government of the actor’s state without any justification, despite the fact that the actor’s state has underway, in all the time for this cause, the advice of the local government elected democratically?

● On a correct construction of section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as modified), which guarantees the existence and existence of the local government councils democratically elected in all the states of the Federation, including the state of the review, if the act of the defendant of the confidence, in the matter of suspension, suspension of suspension and seizure of Mustoundy. Whatever, does not constitute a threat to the existence, governance and/or existence of local government councils democratically underway in the actor’s state and, by extension, the state in general, and therefore violate the clear provisions of the Constitution?

● When 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 with aff, Suspend, Seize and/Or Refuse to pay the Monthly Allocations and Revenues standing to the Credit of the CONSTITUENT LOCAL GIRULS OF THE CUNCILS OF THE PLATIFFT STATE, NOWTHSTANDING THE FACT THAT THAT THE PLATIFT STATE HAS IN PLACE DEMOCRICORY ELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS IN THE STATE AT ALL-TIME Material to this dress?

The state government is praying the apical court to make the following statements:

● A declaration according to which the defendant does not have the right to retain, suspend and/or seize monthly allocations, revenues and/or other standing funds on the merits of the advice of the local government constituting the plaintiff without any justification, in particular in the light of the fact that the applicant has democratically elected advice on the place in all the material for this way.

● A declaration according to which the documents of the defendant retain the monthly allocation and the revenues due to the advice of the local government constituting the actor’s state for the months of March 2025, without any justification, despite the fact that the plaintiff has democratically elected the advice of the local government in always material for the cause, as incomplete, unfavorable and quotes of defenders.

● A declaration according to which the seizure, suspension, detention and/or the refusal to pay the allocations and revenues due to the state of the actor by the defendant is a threat to the existence and existence of the local government councils elected democratically that are underway in the state of the plaintiff in any case.

● A declaration that to the extent that the defendant has yet to begin the implementation of the sentence of this honorable Court in question n.: SC/CV/343/2024 between AG Federation Vag Abia State & Ors. By implementing a necessary logistics to guarantee the direct payment of allocations and revenues due to each Council of the local government of the States, the actor cannot be identified by the defendant for the non -payment of his allocation of the local government while other states of the Federation continue to receive the payment of the allocation of the local government for and on behalf of their local government councils.

● An order that addresses the accused to immediately release the actor, allocations and monthly revenues due to his local government councils constituting for the months of March 2025 who were illegally and unjustifiably held by the defendant in his accounts of the state local government.

● An order that directs the accused to continue paying the assignment, revenues and other funds due to the councils of the local government of the actor through the accounts of the local joint government of the state of the actor open for this purpose pending the necessary logistics.

In a sworn declaration of extreme urgency filed by the Commissioner for Finance, Ogunbile Adeola Olusola, the state government, through the State Prosecutor General, said that the cause was presented against the background of the unjustifiable and illegal account and the illegal light of funds, allowances and revenues due to the councils of the local government from the Fedration account.

The actor declared to the apical court that “the continuous seizure of this fund by the Federation would have paralyzed the sectors of the education and health of the actor’s state if not urgently detained by this honorable court, therefore the actor had simultaneously submitted a application for intermediate and interlocutory injunctions along the original call in this case.”

Related