Supreme Court Reserves Judgement In Suit Against AGF Over Withheld Osun LG Funds

The Supreme Court, Tuesday, reserved its judgement in a suit filed by Osun State government, seeking to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from releasing the State’s withheld Local Government Funds to the disputed Local Government chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Justice Uwani Abba Aji, who led the panel of Justices, reserved the judgement of the court on the matter after taking arguments from Musbau Adetumbi, SAN, who represented Osun State’s Attorney General and Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, who stood for the AGF.

In the suit, the Osun State’s Attorney General prayed the court for an order, directing the AGF to immediately release the statutory allocations to Chairmen and Councilors validly elected for the 30 Local Government Areas of the Osun State.

The plaintiff, who invoked Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction based on a letter by AGF according recognition to the disputed APC chairmen, also sought an order stopping the AGF from further withholding, suspending or seizing monthly allocations and revenues standing to the credit of the Constituents Local Governments, having democratically elected Chairmen in place.

The grouse of the Osun State Attorney General was that the AGF was wrong in his letter recognising APC Local Government chairmen when the matter was pending before court of records.

He also predicated his case on the ground that the election that brought in the APC officials as Local Government chairmen and Councillors had been nullified by a Federal High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Adetumbi, while presenting the case of the plaintiff, pleaded with the seven Justices to uphold his arguments and grant all the reliefs sought by his client.

However, in opposition, the AGF represented by Akin Olujimi, SAN, argued a preliminary objection where he urged the apex court to dismiss the case of the plaintiff on various grounds.

Among others, the Olujimi argued that the plaintiff lacked locus standi (legal right) to bring the case before the Supreme Court to invoke the original jurisdiction because the matter is between two political parties.

He also contended that the apex court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit because the suit was not competent to be presented directly to the apex court as done by the plaintiff.

The senior lawyer argued that, the suit did not disclose any cause of action adding that the tenure of the disputed local government council chairmen was still running till October 22 and that, the proper thing was for the statutory allocation to be be released to them to run the Councils.

Similarly, he argued that Osun State Attorney General had engaged in abuse of court processes by filing cases in about seven high courts on the same subject with the same parties.

He, therefore, urged the court to refuse granting reliefs sought by the plaintiff and dismiss the suit in its entirety.