Withholding Of Osun LG Funds ‘Highly Political’ — Ozekhome
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has described the withholding of local government funds for Osun State as “highly political,” warning that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, must offer proper legal guidance to the Presidency over the matter.
Ozekhome, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, accused the AGF of taking a partisan position by recommending that allocations be released to sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) officials in the state.
“Let me tell you, it is highly political because the Attorney-General wrote a letter dated March 21 to the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy to release the funds due to the local governments to the APC officials, people he knew very well had been sacked from office and never reinstated by any court of law,” Ozekhome said.
The senior lawyer reminded President Bola Tinubu of his own legal battles as Lagos governor when the then Olusegun Obasanjo administration withheld state allocations.
“The Supreme Court held that the Federal Government could never withhold funds meant for local governments in Lagos State.
“All it could say was that Lagos had 20 recognised local governments, so the additional 47 created by the state would not receive allocations. But the funds for the 20 had to be released,” he recalled.
