LG Fund: Reason Osun Challenged FG at Supreme Court - Commissioner

The Osun State Government has returned to the Supreme Court to challenge the seizure of local government allocations.

This followed an alleged failure by the Federal Government to honour a previously negotiated agreement.

The Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, told The PUNCH that Osun had earlier withdrawn a similar suit at the apex court after appeals for an amicable resolution. 

However, the state was compelled to return to court when the Federal Government allegedly defaulted on the agreement.

“There was an agreement between the state and the Federal Government that if we withdrew the case, they would pay the money. That was the reason we withdrew the case, but they didn’t honour it,” Alimi said.

He noted that repeated appeals by traditional rulers, the Nigerian Bar Association, and other stakeholders had failed to resolve the standoff.

“We know that there is no law on their side; they are only using federal might. That is why we decided to go back to the Supreme Court for proper interpretation, so that the issue will be resolved and the salaries of workers who are concerned and the entitlements of the people of Osun State who are being deliberately denied will be paid,” he added.

Alimi also dismissed suggestions that the withheld funds were linked to the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy, insisting that Osun was being unfairly targeted.

“The issue is not about local government autonomy. If they want to pay, let them pay it into the local government account. 

“Signatories to the local government accounts are always public servants, not politicians. If they want to implement local government autonomy, it is not bad, but why should it be only in Osun? That is the question that people should ask,” he argued.

The commissioner said Governor Ademola Adeleke had been sourcing alternative funds to pay local government workers since February to cushion the effects of the seized allocations.

“If the governor has not been finding other means to pay those whose salaries are under the local government since February, does that mean those people should starve to death? Where does the Federal Government derive the power to withhold allocation to other tiers of government?” Alimi queried.

Local council secretariats in Osun have remained shut since February 17, following a prolonged dispute between chairmen elected on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress over control of the local governments.