Human Rights and Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has faulted the continued withholding of statutory allocations due to local governments in Osun State.
He insisted that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) must rise above politics and discharge his constitutional duty as the nation’s Chief Law Officer.
Speaking on Channels Television, Ozekhome reviewed the legal battles surrounding the Osun local government elections, and noted that two subsisting judgments had already nullified the tenure of the former All Progressives Congress (APC) officials and validated the current Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen and councillors elected in February 2025.
According to him, the Court of Appeal had affirmed that there was no legal impediment preventing the release of funds to the newly elected PDP officials, stressing that “nothing bars them from receiving their allocation.”
He recalled that as Lagos State Governor, President Bola Tinubu successfully challenged the federal government’s attempt to withhold local government funds before the Supreme Court, which ruled that the federal government could not deny a state its due allocation.
“I would have thought that this history should guide the present administration,” Ozekhome remarked, criticising the Attorney General’s March 21 letter, backing the stoppage of funds to Osun local governments, describing it as “political” and inconsistent with his constitutional role.
Ozekhome warned that the AGF’s allegiance was not to the government of the day but to the federation and the people.
“If the Attorney General failed to advise the President correctly, then it is a failure on his part. But if he did give the right advice and the President refused to heed it, then the honourable step would be to resign,” he declared.
He also revived calls for the separation of the dual roles of Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, arguing that the two positions often carried conflicting demands.
While ministers are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President, Ozekhome stressed, the Attorney General must be a professional, insulated from partisan pressures, and act as guardian of the public interest.
Citing constitutional provisions, the senior lawyer maintained that Nigeria remained a three-tier federation comprising federal, state, and local governments, and warned against undermining the third tier.
“My appeal to the Attorney General is that there is no need for political statements. The law is clear. The PDP chairmen and councillors are validly in office, and the Osun local governments must receive their allocation,” he added
