Tinubu Administration Withholds N202 Billion Osun Local Government Allocations for 15 Months Despite Supreme Court Ruling

The Bola Tinubu administration has withheld statutory local government allocations due to Osun State totalling N201.962 billion over a 15-month period, despite a Supreme Court ruling declaring the action unconstitutional and ordering the release of the funds.

A review of Federal Accounts Allocation Committee data shows that N131.5 billion meant for the state’s 30 local governments was withheld between March and December 2025, while an additional N70.462 billion was not released between January and May 2026. The monthly breakdown reveals that Osun was due to receive N11.9 billion in March 2025, followed by N11.2 billion in April, N11.7 billion in May, N12.1 billion in June, N12.8 billion in July, N14 billion in August, N14.4 billion in September, N15.8 billion in October, N14.6 billion in November and N13.09 billion in December. The withholding continued into 2026, with N14.060 billion withheld in January, N14.502 billion in February, N12.8 billion in March, N13.7 billion in April and N15.4 billion in May.

The dispute arose following the February 2025 local government elections in Osun State, which were conducted by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration after the dissolution of councils elected under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. The All Progressives Congress, which had won the earlier elections, challenged the process, and the Federal Government subsequently withheld statutory allocations due to the councils.

The legality of the action came under judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court holding that the withholding of the funds was unconstitutional. In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, the apex court declared that the seizure of the allocations amounted to a “grave breach of the 1999 Constitution”. Justice Idris further held that “the hand of the federal government was soiled” by its decision to withhold the allocations and directed that the funds should be “directly channeled to local accounts”.

The court also rejected contempt allegations filed against the Osun State Government by the Attorney-General of the Federation, holding that he was “in more contempt than Osun by not paying the fund as required by law”. However, the court faulted the Osun State Government for initiating the suit without demonstrating that it had obtained the consent of the affected local governments. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Emmanuel Agim maintained that the Osun Attorney-General possessed the authority to institute the action and described the Federal Government’s conduct as “in bad taste because it was capable of crippling the activities of the councils”.

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Despite the Supreme Court’s directive, the funds have remained withheld. The APC-led federal government has argued that since the court struck out the case, the judgment was in its favour.

The withheld funds have crippled grassroots governance across the state. Governor Adeleke has maintained that the allocations are needed to pay the salaries of primary school teachers, nurses, other healthcare workers across the state’s 332 primary healthcare centres, local government employees, traditional council members and retirees. In a statewide broadcast, Adeleke said his government has had to borrow from the state treasury to pay local government workers for almost 12 months. “Imagine the level of suffering these people who depend on local government statutory allocations for the payment of their salaries would have gone through if my government had not stepped in,” he said. Adeleke appealed to President Tinubu to intervene in the matter, adding that the president is “not involved in this illegality”.

The controversy has also spawned parallel litigation. In September 2025, the Oyo State High Court granted an interim injunction restraining United Bank for Africa Plc from releasing statutory allocations belonging to Osun’s 30 local governments pending the determination of a substantive suit. Residents have staged protests, including demonstrations at UBA branches in Osogbo and Ilesa in March, accusing the bank of complicity in the continued withholding of the funds.

With the Osun State governorship election scheduled for August 15, 2026, many believe the seizure of the funds was meant to cripple the state and unseat Governor Adeleke, who recently defected from the PDP to the Accord Party. As of July 2026, the impasse remains unresolved, leaving uncertainty over when the disputed allocations will be released.

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