The Supreme Court on Friday struck out a suit filed by the Attorney General of Osun State against the Federal Government over the withholding of local government allocations, ruling that the state’s Attorney General lacked the legal authority to sue on behalf of the 30 local councils.
In a split decision of six Justices to one, the apex court held that only elected and inaugurated local government officials have the legal standing to initiate such an action.
However, while dismissing the suit, the court strongly condemned the Federal Government’s action, declaring that withholding funds constitutionally meant for local councils is a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris described the Federal Government’s conduct as “unjust” and admonished it to ensure direct payment of allocations into local government accounts.
Justice Idris further noted that since there was no evidence that the Osun Attorney General was instructed by the councils to act on their behalf, he could not competently file the suit.
The Court also rejected the Attorney General of the Federation’s contempt claim against his Osun counterpart, stating that the AGF was “in greater contempt” of the law for failing to release the funds as required.
In a minority judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim disagreed with the majority, insisting that the Osun AG had the right to institute the case. He condemned the Federal Government’s action as one capable of crippling local government operations across the state.
