The Osun State Government has returned to the Supreme Court to contest the alleged seizure of local government allocations by the Federal Government.
Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, said the state had earlier withdrawn a similar suit after both parties reached an agreement for payment, but accused the Federal Government of reneging on the deal.
“There was an agreement between the state and the Federal Government that if we withdrew the case, they would pay the money.
That was the reason we withdrew the case, but they didn’t honour it,” Alimi told The PUNCH.
He noted that efforts by traditional rulers, the Nigerian Bar Association, and other stakeholders to broker peace had failed, leaving the state with no option but to seek judicial interpretation.
According to him, the matter has no connection with the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy, insisting that Osun was being singled out unfairly.
“The issue is not about local government autonomy. If they want to pay, let them pay it into the local government account. Signatories to the accounts are public servants, not politicians. If they want to implement autonomy, that is fine—but why only in Osun?” he queried.
Alimi disclosed that Governor Ademola Adeleke had been sourcing alternative funds to pay local government workers since February, following the alleged withholding of allocations.
“If the governor has not been finding other means to pay those whose salaries are under the local government since February, does that mean those people should starve? Where does the Federal Government derive the power to withhold allocation to other tiers of government?” he asked.
Local government secretariats in the state have been locked since February 17, amid a leadership tussle between elected chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress.