The Supreme Court today Friday threw out a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to compel the Federal Government to release local government allocations allegedly withheld from the state’s 30 councils.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said: “The attorney General of Osun state lacks locus standi to institute this case on behalf of Local Government councils that have exclusive powers to sue”.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, in a majority decision of six to one, ruled that the case was incompetent. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris held that Osun State lacked the legal standing to invoke the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction on behalf of the local government councils.
The court explained that its original jurisdiction applies strictly to disputes between the Federal Government and a state, not between the Federal Government and local councils, which are recognised as independent bodies capable of instituting their own actions. Consequently, the Justices found that only the councils themselves could challenge the alleged withholding of funds.
Justice Idris also rejected the Osun Attorney-General’s argument that the matter qualified as public interest litigation, stressing that procedural requirements could not be sidestepped.
Although the panel upheld the preliminary objection raised by the Attorney-General of the Federation, it nonetheless urged the Federal Government to fully implement earlier judgments granting financial autonomy to all 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
In its suit, marked SC/CV/775/2025, Osun had asked for ten reliefs, including declarations that the Attorney-General of the Federation must comply with lower court rulings affirming the legitimacy of democratically elected council officials following the 22 February 2025 elections.
The state also sought an order directing the FG to release all statutory allocations allegedly withheld, and a perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government from diverting or suspending council funds.
Counsel for Osun State, Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, told the court that despite the pending case, the Attorney-General of the Federation allegedly directed the release of the disputed funds to sacked APC chairmen and councillors, adding that only a restraining order prevented the transfer.
The Federal Government, however, argued that the state had no valid claim and accused it of deliberately frustrating the former APC council officials, whose tenure expired in October.
FG’s counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, maintained that the matter was not one the Supreme Court could entertain and accused the plaintiff of abusing judicial process.
Ratio 1: LG statutory allocations to be paid directly to LGAs
Ration 2: Each 3 tier of Govt in Nigeria, Federal, State and Local is autonomous and independent of one another.
Ratio 3: LGAs have exclusive power over their fund without interference from the State Government. If any entity has grievances on the non release of the local government, it should be local government councils and not the state. The local government has right to sue and be sued as provided by the constitution.
Ratio 4: The Plaintiff, AG of Osun lacks locus standi to institute the action to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as there is no dispute between the Federal Government and the Osun State Government. The case is incompetent and hereby stuck out.
Ratio 5: Osun LGAs are autonomous entities that ought to have filed the case themselves in an appropriate High Court. AG of Osun is a meddlesome interloper and lacks locus standi to invoke SC original jurisdiction. LGAs are autonomous and Osun State Government and its AG cannot file this action.
Ratio 6: The Federal Government is directed to remit all LG funds throughout the Federation to all LGAs nationwide—failure to do so amounts to disobedience of the rule of law. The case is hereby struck out. 6 of 7, the full Panel agreed, and only one dissented.
