A SaharaReporters’ review of the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) data released by the Office of the Accountant General and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the total amount yet to be released to the state government stands at ₦73.7billion.
The figure represents the withheld funds for the period between March and August 2025 — a six-month period.
In March, the state was expected to receive ₦11.9billion; the amounts for April, May, and June were ₦11.2billion, ₦11.7billion, and ₦12.1billion, respectively. Further review shows that the figure for July 2025 stands at ₦12.8billion, while that of August stands at ₦14billion.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that the Nigerian government had withheld Osun State’s local government allocations since March 2025.
There have been a series of controversies surrounding the non-release of the funds, which stemmed from the conduct of a local government election in the state in February — a move faulted by the All Progressives Congress, which controls the Federal Government and oversees the disbursement of funds to states and local governments.
Recently, a High Court of Justice, Oyo State, sitting in Ibadan, issued an interim order restraining the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc from releasing statutory funds belonging to the 30 local governments in Osun State.
In the enrolment of the order dated September 26, 2025, in Suit No. I/1149/25, filed by the Attorney General of Osun State and the Osun State Local Government Service Commission against UBA, the claimants sought interim protection over local government allocations.
The claimants requested “an Order of Interim Injunction restraining the Defendant/Respondent from paying and/or causing to be paid all and/or any of that funds which constitute the statutory Local Government funds of all the 30 Local Governments in Osun State as listed under Osun State in the 1st Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for an order of interlocutory injunction filed in this case.”
They further prayed the court for “an Order of Interim Injunction of this Honourable Court mandating the Defendant/Respondent not to release all the said funds mentioned in relief one above and/or any part of it to any person however he may be, be it artificial or natural pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for an order of interlocutory injunction filed in this case.”
The motion ex-parte was supported by an affidavit deposed to by Olufemi Akande Ogundun. Counsel to the claimants, A.A. Abass Esq, moved the motion on September 26, 2025.
In his ruling, Justice A.L. Akintola stated: “Having carefully considered the motion Ex-parte together with the supporting affidavit and the Exhibits attached on the one hand as well as the written address of counsel and the affidavit of urgency filed along with the motion, this court is satisfied that the claimants/applicants have successfully made out a case for the urgent intervention of this court at this stage as any delay may foist on the claimants/applicants an irreversible harm, injury or situation of helplessness.”
The judge further clarified: “In any event, it is only an interim order that the defendant/respondent will have the opportunity to possibly challenge once the defendant turns up to join issues with the claimants on the motion on notice for an order of interlocutory injunction already filed in this case. Accordingly, the interim orders of injunction sought are hereby granted as prayed, on the claimants/applicants’ motion Ex-parte dated 26th September, 2025 and filed on the same date in this case.”
The matter was adjourned to October 3, 2025, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
The order was issued under the seal of the court and the hand of the presiding judge on September 26, 2025, and certified by the Principal Registrar, B.O. Somide (Mrs.), of the Oyo State High Court of Justice.
In a covering letter conveying the court ruling dated September 26, 2025, lead counsel to the state government, Mr. Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, informed the bank of “the development.”
In the last week of September, the Osun State chapter of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) called for the immediate removal of the Attorney General of the Federation, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Accountant General of the Federation, accusing them of conspiring to divert public funds to pay sacked Osun local government chairmen and councillors.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday by the party’s state chairman, Comrade & Engr. John Olufemi Adesuyi, the ZLP described the plan as “a direct violation of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and an affront to democracy itself.”
According to the ZLP, the Federal Government’s move to fund the sacked officials of the controversial October 15, 2022, Osun local government election — which was conducted with “Yes/No” ballot papers — is illegal.
“Funding sacked and illegal officials is an unconstitutional act, amounting to creating a parallel government structure outside the authority of the Constitution,” the statement said.
Citing provisions of the 1999 Constitution, Adesuyi argued that no law permits the Federal Government to directly pay local government officials, particularly those whose election had already been voided.
“Section 162(6) & (7) of the Constitution establishes the State Joint Local Government Account and prescribes how local government allocations are to be administered. No provision allows the Federal Government to bypass the states and directly pay illegal officials. Any such action is a constitutional breach and a diversion of public funds,” he stressed.
The Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling on the dispute on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.