The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed a suit filed by the Attorney General of Osun State, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, against the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, concerning the dispute over withheld allocations meant for the state’s local governments.
In a 6–1 split decision, the court ruled that the Osun Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice lacked the legal standing to initiate the case on behalf of the 30 local government areas, stating that only those elected and inaugurated at the local government level have the authority to sue or be sued.
Justice Mohammed Idris, who delivered the lead judgment, affirmed that the Federal Government acted improperly by withholding the funds, noting that the move violated the 1999 Constitution. He added that the withheld funds must be directly remitted to the respective local government accounts.
The court also dismissed the AGF’s contempt claims against Osun, observing that he was in even greater contempt for failing to release the funds as required by law. However, Justice Idris emphasized that since there was no proof that the local governments had authorised the Osun Attorney General to act on their behalf, he should not have instituted the suit.
In a dissenting judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim argued that the Osun Attorney General did have the authority to file the case, stressing that the Federal Government’s decision to withhold the funds was capable of severely disrupting local government operations.