The Osun State Government has warned the Minister of Finance, 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 have already removed from office.
In a strongly worded letter signed by Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, counsel to the state, and addressed to the Minister of Finance, the state government expressed concern over reports that the minister, 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, 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,” 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 authorize the release of funds, which are under legal dispute, to these court-sacked chairmen and councilors,” the letter read. “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 Councilors 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.
According to the letter, judgements of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had unequivocally removed the APC chairmen and councillors from office, and the rulings remain unchallenged.
The state insisted that the withheld funds belong to the people of the 30 local government councils in Osun, noting 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 receive the same treatment as their counterparts in the other 35 states who have continued to receive their monthly allocations through their State-Local Government Joint Accounts.
The counsel stressed that proceeding with payment into illegal accounts would amount to “a grievous assault on the rule of law” and urged the minister to withdraw any letter already written to the president for approval.
“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 letter added.
Osun’s legal team appealed to the Finance Minister to “allow the court to discharge its duties unhindered” while the matter remains pending at the Supreme Court.
