NBA to FG: Release Osun LG funds

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the federal government to immediately release statutory allocations due to local government councils in Osun State. In a letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and signed by NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), and Secretary General, Mobolaji Ojibara, […]

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the federal government to immediately release statutory allocations due to local government councils in Osun State.

In a letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and signed by NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), and Secretary General, Mobolaji Ojibara, the association threatened to take legal action.

It described the continued withholding of the funds as unconstitutional, unlawful, and a dangerous affront to the rule of law.

The NBA referenced the Court of Appeal ruling of February 10, which nullified and set aside, for incompetence, the judgment of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, delivered on November 25, 2022. Governor Ademola Adeleke had relied on the earlier judgment to dissolve elected local governments and replace them with caretaker committees.

• By-election results show exit of appointees from Kaduna govt insignificant – Gov’s spokesman
• Wike rejects PDP’s Ibadan convention plan

Following the February 22 elections in the 30 local government councils, where candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defeated aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the federal government has allegedly withheld statutory allocations meant for the councils.

“The withholding of allocations meant for local governments in Osun State amounts to a violation of the constitution, a disregard for the rule of law, and an affront to clear pronouncements of the courts,” the NBA said.

Citing the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney General of the Federation (2004), the association stressed that the president lacks the power to suspend or withhold funds due to local councils, irrespective of political disputes.

“It cannot but constitute clear impunity were it to be true that funds meant for the LGAs are currently being seized or withheld,” the NBA warned, adding that such actions “set a dangerous precedent, weaken public confidence in democratic institutions, and embolden lawlessness at all levels.”

When contacted, the spokesman of the Attorney General of the Federation, Kamarudeen Ogundele, told Daily Trust that it would be speculative for the government to comment on the legality of the issue without a suit being filed. He said, “The government will respond appropriately when the matter is filed.”

 

NULGE accuses FG of plot to release Osun LG allocation to APC chairmen

Meanwhile, the Osun State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has accused the federal government of plotting to release the withheld allocation of Osun local governments to chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

NULGE State President, Dr. Nathaniel Kehinde Ogungbangbe, raised the alarm at a press conference in Osogbo, alleging that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) was attempting to rush the hearing of the case during the Abuja vacation court to allow APC chairmen access to the funds.

He said the funds belong to the local governments and, by extension, to the people of Osun State. He argued that hearing the matter at its originally scheduled time would not deprive the people of their money, but rushing it during the court vacation raised suspicions.

The dispute over the councils in Osun traces back to the October 15, 2022, local government elections conducted under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

Those elections were nullified by the Federal High Court in two separate judgments delivered on November 25 and November 30, 2022.