The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has formally requested the Supreme Court to compel the Osun State Government to refund seven months of local government allocations to the Minister of Finance.
This request comes as part of the AGF’s response to a lawsuit filed by Osun State.
Osun State had sued the AGF, claiming the Federal Government withheld statutory allocations for its 30 local government councils for March 2025.
The state government, in its suit (SC/CV/379/2025), alleged that the Minister of Finance, Wale Odun, stated he was acting under the AGF’s directive when queried about the unpaid funds.
However, the AGF, through his counsel Chief Akin Olujimi SAN, has vehemently denied these claims. Fagbemi has instead accused the Osun State Government of contempt, alleging it has disobeyed a Supreme Court judgment issued on July 11, 2024.
In a counter-affidavit deposed by Taye Oloyede, Special Assistant to the President, the AGF asserted that neither he nor the Minister of Finance instructed the withholding of Osun’s local government funds.
Oloyede further stated that on May 22, 2025, the Minister of Finance denied ever receiving such instructions.
The affidavit also highlighted that Osun State did not allege a presidential order or provide evidence of deliberate withholding of funds.
Oloyede emphasized that direct payment of allocations to local governments only requires them to submit their account details to the Ministry of Finance.
He claimed that the individuals currently administering Osun’s local governments were elected under the previous APC-led state government and are expected to remain in office until October 2025.
He further argued that Osun State failed to demonstrate that its local governments had submitted their account details to the Finance Ministry.
Crucially, the AGF argued that Osun State lacked the legal authority or consent of the local governments to initiate the lawsuit.
The affidavit indicated Osun’s intention to use the local government allocations for state-level health and education initiatives, which directly contravenes the Supreme Court’s judgment prohibiting states from managing local government finances.
The AGF also pointed out that an earlier Federal High Court ruling in favor of the Osun State Governor had been overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Fagbemi insisted that the Osun State Government is in contempt of the July 11, 2024, Supreme Court order in AGF v. Attorney General of Abia State & Others.
This landmark ruling mandated that local government allocations must be paid directly to the councils, not through state governments, and explicitly barred states from collecting or disbursing these funds.
Despite being listed as Defendant 29 in that suit and acknowledging the order, Osun State allegedly continued to receive and spend local government funds from July 2024 to February 2025.
The AGF described Osun’s lawsuit as a “calculated attempt” to secure the Supreme Court’s endorsement for continued violation of its own ruling.
He termed it “egregious contempt” and urged the court to enforce judicial accountability. “The only way to vindicate the authority of this court,” Fagbemi stated, “is to order the plaintiff to pay back all LG funds collected between July 2024 and February 2025.
These should be remitted to the Minister of Finance for onward transfer to the respective local governments.”
Preliminary Objection and Withdrawal of Suit
In a five-ground preliminary objection, the AGF argued that:
Read Also: Osun LG crisis: Reps urge Egbetokun, DSS DG to restore order
The plaintiff (Osun State) is not entitled to be heard due to contempt.
The plaintiff has no right of appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision.
The case does not present a genuine dispute to trigger the court’s original jurisdiction under Section 232(1) of the Constitution.
The plaintiff has no locus standi (legal standing) to sue on behalf of local governments.
Only local governments, not state governments, can seek redress for unpaid allocations.
The AGF stressed that Osun State had improperly appointed itself as a “watchdog” over local government funds, despite having no authority to litigate on their behalf.
“If any LG has been wrongly deprived of its funds,” he concluded, “it is the council itself—not the state government—that has the right to sue.”
Meanwhile, it has been learned that the Osun State Government has withdrawn the suit.
However, Chief Olujimi confirmed that the suit remains in court until the application for withdrawal is formally heard by the court in September.
 and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has formally requested the Supreme Court to compel the Osun State Government to refund seven months of local government allocations to the Minister of Finance.){kind=link}