By Jeleel Olawale

The Supreme Court has acknowledged an order issued by the Ibadan High Court restraining the United Bank for Africa (UBA) from releasing Osun State’s local government allocations to the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen who were previously removed by the court.

The Ibadan High Court had granted the injunction last week, pending the determination of the substantive case before it.

During proceedings on Tuesday, the Supreme Court took note of the intervention after Musbau Adetumbi, SAN, counsel for the Osun State Attorney General, informed the court that the respondent had attempted to frustrate the case by seeking payment of the disputed allocations to the APC camp.

Adetumbi, however, explained that the High Court had stepped in to restrain UBA from releasing the funds. In response, the Supreme Court remarked that the issue had been addressed, emphasising the importance of preserving the subject matter until the substantive case is determined.

A notable moment in the hearing occurred when the counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, though silent on the earlier judgment that ousted the APC chairmen, urged the court to allow the sacked chairmen to complete their tenure, which expires in October. The bench did not make a formal ruling on this submission but murmured in apparent acknowledgment that the chairmen’s tenure lapses next month.

On the main issue, the Supreme Court reserved judgment in a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to restrain the AGF from releasing withheld local government funds to the disputed APC chairmen.

Justice Uwani Aba’aji, who presided over a seven-member panel, reserved judgment after hearing arguments from Adetumbi, representing the Osun State Attorney General, and Olujimi, who represented the AGF. The justice announced that the judgment date for Suit No. SC/CV/773/2025 would be communicated to both parties in due course.

In its application, the Osun State Government requested the apex court to compel the AGF to release statutory allocations to the duly elected local government chairmen and councillors across the state’s 30 councils. The state further sought an order restraining the AGF from withholding or diverting local government revenues on the basis of his recognition of the APC chairmen, whose elections had already been nullified by a Federal High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Adetumbi argued that the AGF acted improperly by recognising the sacked APC officials while the case was still pending before the courts. He urged the panel to uphold his submissions and grant all reliefs sought by his client.

In opposition, Olujimi raised a preliminary objection, urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit. He argued that the Osun Attorney General lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to invoke the apex court’s original jurisdiction since the dispute was fundamentally between two political parties.

He further contended that the case was incompetent for direct presentation before the Supreme Court, as it did not disclose any cause of action. According to him, the tenure of the disputed APC chairmen remains valid until 22 October, and therefore, the statutory allocations should rightfully be disbursed to them.

Olujimi also accused the Osun Attorney General of abusing court processes by filing similar suits in about seven different high courts involving the same parties and issues.