The Supreme Court of Nigeria has delivered a split judgment, striking out a suit filed by the Attorney General (AG) of Osun State, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, concerning a dispute over local government allocations that were withheld by the Federal Government.
In a split decision of six justices to one, 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.
Justice Mohammed Idris, who read the lead judgment, held that the proper persons who can “sue and be sued directly” are those who won the local government election and were inaugurated.
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He noted 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.
Despite striking out the suit, the court affirmed that the Federal Government was wrong in withholding the local government funds, holding that the action was in breach of the 1999 Constitution.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Government “improperly seized funds” and “urged it to ensure that the funds are directly allocated to local accounts.”
The court also dismissed the AGF’s contempt allegations against Osun State, stating that the AGF was in more contempt than Osun by not paying the fund as required by law.
In a “minority judgment,” Justice Emmanuel Agim disagreed with the six other justices, maintaining that the Osun Attorney General has the right to institute the case.
Justice Agim argued that the federal government’s action in withholding the funds was in bad taste because it was capable of crippling the activities of the councils.
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