The Osun State Government has filed a fresh suit at the Supreme Court against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over the alleged withholding of statutory allocations meant for its 30 local government councils since March 2025.
The new suit, filed on Monday by the state’s Attorney-General alongside a legal team led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), seeks an order compelling the Federal Government to release all seized funds. Osun described the action as an “unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure” of local government revenues.
The state accused the AGF of disregarding judgments of the Federal High Court, Osogbo (November 2022) and the Court of Appeal (June 2025), which upheld the legitimacy of council chairmen and councillors elected on February 22, 2025.
Among its reliefs, Osun is asking the apex court to declare that the AGF has no constitutional power to seize local government funds, and to issue a perpetual injunction restraining future seizures.
Meanwhile, the state has also filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, challenging the Chief Judge’s decision to transfer an earlier case on the same funds to Abuja. It warned that pursuing the matter in Abuja while the Supreme Court is already involved could lead to conflicting judgments.
In an affidavit, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Olufemi Akande Ogundun, described the Federal Government’s action as an affront to the rule of law, citing precedents including A.G. Kano v. A.G. Federation (2007) and RMAFC v. A.G. Rivers (2023).
The state further accused the AGF of creating a “self-induced urgency”, noting that he delayed responding to filings for over 80 days before raising a claim of urgency on August 13, 2025.