Osun State Government has warned Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, against asking the president to approve the release of withheld local government funds to accounts opened by former All Progressives Congress (APC) council chairmen and councillors, whom the courts had already removed from office.
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In a strongly-worded letter, signed by Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, counsel to the state, and addressed to the finance minister, the state government expressed concern over reports that Edun, despite ongoing legal challenges at the Supreme Court, had written to President Bola Tinubu seeking approval to pay the disputed funds into “illegal accounts” operated by the sacked officials.
The letter was titled, “Again: Notification of the Pendency of Suit No: SC/CV/773/2025: Between Attorney General of Osun State v. Attorney General of the Federation in Respect of the Withheld Osun State Local Government Fund.”
It recalled that the Attorney General of Osun State had filed a case at the Supreme Court challenging the seizure of the funds and their attempted disbursement to illegal accounts opened by APC politicians.
“It is inconceivable that you would ask His Excellency, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to authorise the release of funds, which are under legal dispute, to these court-sacked chairmen and councillors,” the letter read.
It added, “Instead of seeking an approval to do what is wrong, it is our counsel that you use your office to properly and faithfully apprise Mr. President of the true position of the law.
“Sir, if it is true that you have indeed written to Mr. President to approve payment of the Local Government funds to these court-sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors prior to the determination of the dispute between the parties across the divide by the apex court of the land, then such an action is not only a mockery of the administration of justice but also a mockery of all the authorities of the nation, including that of Mr. President himself.
“It will be a grievous assault on the rule of law. In the absence of the rule of law, sir, what takes over is what no one desires. This is why, in saner climes, the rule of law is jealously protected.”
The letter said judgements of both the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal had unequivocally removed the APC chairmen and councillors from office, and the rulings remained unchallenged.
The state insisted that the withheld funds belonged to the people of the 30 local government councils in Osun State, stressing that they are meant for “farmers, market women, teachers, health workers, pensioners, and children”, not for “politicians who have been lawfully sacked by the courts”.
The state government urged the finance minister to see that local governments in Osun State received the same treatment as their counterparts in the other 35 states, who had continued to receive their monthly allocations through their State-Local Government Joint Accounts.
The letter urged the minister to withdraw any communication already sent to the president for approval of the release.
It said, “It is on record that, as of today, the Federation is in possession of tens of billions of naira belonging to the 30 Local Government Councils of Osun State. These billions, we repeat, are for the wellbeing of the people… not money that politicians can whimsically appropriate to settle political associates and followers.”
The Osun State legal team appealed to the finance minister to “allow the court to discharge its duties unhindered”, while the matter remained pending at the Supreme Court.
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