IBADAN — An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has delivered a decisive ruling in the protracted legal battle over withheld statutory allocations belonging to the 30 local government councils in Osun State, dismissing an application by sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) local government chairmen seeking to access the frozen funds. The decision marks a new chapter in a dispute that has shaken local governance and legal interpretations of fiscal rights in the Southwest.
The council chairmen, identified in court filings as “Persons Affected,” had approached the court in Suit No. I/1149/2025: Attorney General of Osun State & Anor v. UBA PLC, asking the judiciary to overturn an ex‑parte order granted on September 26, 2025 that froze their council funds in accounts at United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. They argued that maintaining the freeze would obstruct governance at the local level and violate constitutional provisions in the 1999 Constitution.
But in Thursday’s hearing, Justice Ladiran Akintola ruled that the chairmen lacked legal standing — locus standi — to challenge the freeze because they had withdrawn their earlier motion to be joined as parties to the original suit. The judge noted that without a recognised legal interest in the disputed funds, the applicants could not legitimately seek to discharge the interim injunction or strike out the suit. The application was, therefore, dismissed in its entirety.
Justice Akintola’s ruling reinforced that only parties with a direct and lawful stake in the funds could come before the court, effectively affirming the validity of the interim injunction restraining UBA from releasing the disputed allocations to any individual or entity.
The interim order at the centre of this dispute was initially granted in late September, when the Oyo High Court, upon application by the Osun State Attorney‑General and the Osun State Local Government Service Commission, restrained UBA from disbursing the local government statutory allocations — which had been paid into accounts amid competing claims of legitimacy between APC‑aligned and other political factions.
The legal conflict stems from a wider crisis over the status of local government leadership in Osun: following a series of court rulings and contested elections, questions have persisted over who holds valid authority over the councils and therefore who is entitled to receive federal allocations. Similar litigation has also moved up to the Supreme Court, which has reserved judgment in a related dispute concerning recognition of local government officials and entitlement to statutory funds.
After the ruling, counsel for the Osun State Attorney‑General, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), thanked the court and indicated intentions to review the Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 5, 2025 — suggesting that the state may pursue further legal clarity on its entitlements and the broader constitutional issues at play.
The case was adjourned by the High Court to December 18, 2025, for mention, providing a brief pause before the next procedural steps.
Legal analysts say the judgment underscores the complexities of local government finance disputes in Nigeria — particularly where political divisions intersect with constitutional fiscal entitlements and judicial interpretation of standing. For now, the Oyo High Court’s insistence on strict adherence to legal interest may shape how future motions are framed in this and related fiscal litigation.