Apex Court takes note of Ibadan High Court’s order restraining bank from paying allocations to sacked APC chairmen
The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Tuesday reserved judgment in a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from releasing withheld Local Government funds to the court-sacked council chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A seven-man panel of Justices of the apex court, led by Justice Uwani Aba’aji, took arguments from counsel to the parties, Musbau Adetumbi, SAN, representing the Osun State Attorney General, and Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, who appeared for the AGF, before reserving judgment.
Justice Aba’aji announced that the judgment date in the suit, marked SC/CV/773/2025, would be communicated to both parties in due course.
A major highlight of Tuesday’s proceedings was the apex court’s acknowledgment of an interim order issued last week by an Ibadan High Court restraining the United Bank for Africa (UBA) from disbursing Osun Local Government allocations to the court-sacked APC chairmen.
The development followed a complaint by Adetumbi, SAN, who informed the Supreme Court that the respondents had allegedly attempted to tamper with the res (subject matter) of the case by moving to release the allocations despite pending litigation.
He told the court that the Ibadan High Court had since intervened and barred the bank from releasing the funds pending determination of the substantive matter.
Justice Aba’aji, in response, remarked that the intervention by the lower court had effectively preserved the subject of the dispute, saying: “It is no issue again,” – a statement reaffirming the need for all parties to maintain the status quo until final determination of the case.
Counsel to the AGF, Chief Olujimi, SAN, though silent on the subsisting appellate judgment that nullified the APC council elections, urged the court to allow the sacked chairmen to complete their tenure, which he said expires in October.
In the substantive matter, the Osun State Attorney General is asking the Supreme Court to direct the AGF to immediately release statutory allocations to chairmen and councillors “validly elected” for the 30 Local Government Areas in the state.
Besides, 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 Attorney General was that, the AGF was wrong in his letter recognizing 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 standing (Legal power) 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 council chairmen is 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.
Adetumbi, SAN, urged the court to uphold his client’s arguments and grant all the reliefs sought.
The dispute over Osun’s local government funds stems from the controversial local government elections conducted by the immediate past administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola shortly before the end of his tenure in 2022. The elections, won by APC candidates, were challenged in court by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which argued that the polls violated the provisions of the Electoral Act and were held contrary to due process.
A Federal High Court subsequently nullified the elections, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja. Following the judgment, the present administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke dissolved the APC-led councils and appointed caretaker committees. The Attorney General of the Federation, however, later issued a letter recognizing the sacked APC chairmen, prompting the Osun State Government to approach the Supreme Court to determine the legality of the AGF’s action and the rightful authority to receive local government allocations pending final resolution of the crisis.
