The Supreme Court on Friday struck out a suit filed by Osun State Government that sought to compel the Federal Government to release withheld allocations belonging to local government areas in the state.
The apex court held that the Osun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice has no legal right to have instituted the case on behalf of the 30 local governments in the state.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, in a split decision of six to one, held that the legal action brought by the Attorney General of Osun State lacked competence.
The court ruled that those who won the local government elections and have been inaugurated are the proper persons who can sue and be sued directly.
In a judgment on Friday, the Supreme Court held that the federal government was wrong in withholding the local government funds, adding that the action was in grave breach of the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Mohammed Baba Idris, who read the lead judgment, said that the hand of the federal government was soiled in its decision to unjustly seize the funds and admonished it to ensure that the funds are directly channeled to local accounts.
The Court dismissed the AGF’s contempt allegations against Osun, adding that he was in greater contempt than Osun by not paying the funds as required by law.
Justice Idris, however, said that since there was no evidence that the Osun Attorney General was briefed by the local governments, he ought not to have filed the case on their behalf.
In a minority judgment, Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim disagreed with the six other justices, holding that the Osun Attorney General has the right to institute the case.
Justice Agim said that the action of the federal government in withholding the local government funds was in bad taste because it was capable of crippling the activities of the councils.
