Supreme Court on Friday struck out a suit filed by the Osun State Attorney General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, challenging the Federal Government over the withholding of funds meant for the state’s 30 local government councils.
In a split decision of six justices to one, the apex court ruled that the Osun Attorney General lacked the legal authority to initiate the action on behalf of the councils.
According to the court, only the elected and duly inaugurated local government officials have the standing to sue or be sued on matters relating to their allocations.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris held that although the Federal Government acted outside the law by withholding the funds, the case collapsed because it was not instituted by the rightful parties.
“The Federal Government was wrong in withholding the local government fund, and such action is in breach of the 1999 Constitution,” Justice Idris declared, adding that the FG must ensure that allocations go directly into local government accounts as required by law.
The court also dismissed contempt allegations filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, against the Osun State Government, insisting that the AGF had “no moral standing” to level such claims while failing to release the funds.
Justice Idris further emphasized that there was no evidence showing that the Osun Attorney General had been briefed or authorized by the local governments before taking the matter to court.
However, in a lone dissenting opinion, Justice Emmanuel Agim disagreed with the majority verdict. He insisted that the Osun Attorney General was within his rights to file the suit and condemned the Federal Government’s withholding of the funds.
Justice Agim warned that choking off local government finances was “capable of crippling the activities of the councils,” describing the FG’s action as being in “bad taste.”
Friday’s judgment leaves the onus on local government chairmen to take up the battle directly if they intend to pursue the recovery of their withheld allocations.
