The Supreme Court has struck out a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to compel the Federal Government to release billions of naira allegedly withheld from the state’s 30 local government councils.
In a 6–1 majority decision, the apex court held that the case was incompetent. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris ruled that Osun State lacked the legal standing to invoke the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction on behalf of local government councils.
On Friday, the court clarified that its original jurisdiction applies strictly to disputes between the Federal Government and a state, not between the Federal Government and local councils. Local governments, it stressed, are recognised as distinct entities capable of initiating their own legal actions.
As a result, the justices concluded that only the councils themselves could challenge the alleged withholding of their funds.
Justice Idris also dismissed the Osun Attorney-General’s submission that the matter qualified as public interest litigation, insisting that procedural rules could not be bypassed.
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 across the country.
In the suit marked SC/CV/775/2025, Osun State sought ten reliefs, including declarations compelling the Attorney-General of the Federation to comply with lower court rulings affirming the legitimacy of democratically elected council officials following the February 22, 2025 elections.
The state also requested an order directing the Federal Government to release all statutory allocations allegedly withheld, as well as a perpetual injunction restraining the FG from diverting or suspending council funds.
Counsel to Osun State, Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, told the court that despite the pending suit, the Attorney-General of the Federation allegedly ordered the release of the disputed funds to sacked APC chairmen and councillors—an action he said was halted only by a restraining order.
The Federal Government, however, countered that the state had no valid claim, accusing it of deliberately frustrating the former APC council officials, whose tenure expired in October.
FG’s counsel, Akin Olujimi, SAN, argued that the matter fell outside the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and described the suit as an abuse of court process. After reviewing the arguments, the Supreme Court dismissed the case for want of competence.
