The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has asked the Supreme Court to compel the Osun State Government to refund seven months’ worth of local government (LG) allocations, which he claims were unlawfully collected between July 2024 and February 2025.
Fagbemi made the request in a response filed through his legal counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), following a suit initiated by the Osun State Government.
The state had dragged the AGF to court, accusing the Federal Government of failing to disburse the statutory allocations due to its 30 LG councils for March 2025.
In the suit, marked SC/CV/379/2025, Osun alleged that the Minister of Finance, Wale Odun, told state officials that the delay in payment was based on directives from the AGF.
However, the AGF firmly denied giving such orders, accusing the state of misleading the court and acting in contempt of a binding Supreme Court judgment delivered on July 11, 2024.
Fagbemi argued that Osun’s reliance on precedent set in the 2004 AG Lagos v. AG Federation case was misplaced, noting that the legal and constitutional contexts differ significantly.
In a counter affidavit submitted by Taye Oloyede, Special Assistant to the President, the AGF said there was no directive from his office or the Ministry of Finance to withhold Osun’s allocations.
He added that Odun, in his presence, denied ever receiving instructions to delay the funds.
According to Oloyede, Osun failed to present any evidence suggesting the President or any federal authority ordered the delay.
He stressed that allocations can only be transferred to LGs that submit valid account details to the Ministry of Finance — something Osun’s councils allegedly failed to do.
The affidavit noted that the current LG administrators in Osun were elected under the previous All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration and remain in office until October 2025.
Furthermore, the AGF accused Osun of seeking to control LG finances to fund state level projects, such as education and healthcare — an action explicitly prohibited by the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling, which barred states from interfering with LG funds.
Fagbemi maintained that the state government lacks the legal standing (locus standi) to sue on behalf of local governments, as only the LG councils themselves are constitutionally empowered to seek redress over unpaid funds.
He described Osun’s action as “egregious contempt” of the Supreme Court, asserting that the state deliberately continued to access and spend LG allocations despite being a party (Defendant 29) to the earlier ruling that outlawed such practices.
To uphold the integrity of the judiciary, Fagbemi urged the court to compel Osun to return all funds received on behalf of LGs during the seven month period.
He asked that the funds be remitted to the Minister of Finance for proper disbursement to the respective councils.
In a preliminary objection based on five grounds, the AGF argued that Osun lacks the right to be heard due to its defiance of a valid court order.
He added that the suit does not present a genuine constitutional dispute under Section 232(1), and therefore, falls outside the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction.
“The plaintiff cannot assume the role of watchdog over LG finances,” Fagbemi said. “If any local government has been unlawfully denied its funds, it is that council not the state government that has the right to seek redress.”
