Fresh trouble emerged for the Osun State Government on Friday as the Supreme Court dismissed its case seeking to compel the Federal Government to release local government allocations allegedly withheld from the state’s 30 councils.
In its ruling, the apex court held that Osun State had no legal right to institute the matter on behalf of the councils. The lead judgment, delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, stated that the suit was not competent before the court.
According to the seven-member panel, the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction covers disputes strictly between the Federal Government and a state. It stressed that local government councils are separate legal entities with the capacity to file their own cases.
Consequently, the court ruled that only the councils could challenge the alleged non-release of their statutory allocations and not the state government acting on their behalf.
Justice Idris further faulted the attempt by the Osun Attorney-General to classify the case as public interest litigation. He insisted that public interest cannot override mandatory procedural requirements.
Although the panel upheld the preliminary objection of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the justices advised the Federal Government to fully implement earlier court decisions granting financial autonomy to the 774 councils nationwide.
In the suit, marked SC/CV/775/2025, Osun had asked for ten reliefs, including declarations compelling the Federal Government to respect court rulings that affirmed the elected council officials from the February 22, 2025 polls.
The state also prayed for an order directing the release of all allegedly withheld allocations and a perpetual injunction stopping the FG from diverting or suspending funds meant for the councils.
During the hearing, Osun’s counsel, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), informed the court that the Attorney-General of the Federation had allegedly moved to pay the disputed funds to sacked APC chairmen and councillors until a restraining order halted the action.
The Federal Government, however, countered that the state had no case, accusing Osun of frustrating the former APC officials whose tenure reportedly expired in October.
FG’s lawyer, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), told the court that the case was an abuse of judicial process and not one that the Supreme Court could validly entertain.
After reviewing all submissions, the Supreme Court agreed with the Federal Government and dismissed the case for lack of competence.
