The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday faulted the federal government over the withholding of the allocation of Local Government Areas in Osun State from the Federation Account.
The Apex court held that the federal government was wrong in withholding the local government fund, stating that the action was in grave breach of the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Mohammed Idris, reading the lead judgment, expressed that the hand of the federal government was soiled in its decision to unjustly seize fund and admonished it to strictly ensure that the funds are directly channeled to local accounts.
The Supreme Court, in a split judgement of six to one, on jurisdiction, struck out a suit filed by the Attorney-General of Osun against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) over withheld allocations due to local governments in the state.
Justice Idris held that the Osun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice had no legal rights to institute the case on behalf of the 30 local governments in the state.
The Court held that those who won the local government election and having been inaugurated were those who can sue and be sued directly.
Justice Idris dismissed the AGF’s contempt allegations against Osun, saying that the AGF was in more contempt than Osun by not paying the fund as required by law.
Idris however said that since there was no evidence that Osun Attorney General was briefed by the local governments, he ought not to have filed the case on their behalf.
In a minority judgment by Justice Emmanuel Agim, he disagreed with the six other justices, holding that Osun Attorney General has the right to institute the case.
Agim said that the action of the federal government in withholding the local governments funds was in bad taste because it was capable of crippling the activities of the Councils. (NAN)