Kunle Rasheed Adegoke, SAN respected constitutional lawyer and leading Osun APC governorship aspirant—has delivered a scathing analysis following the sudden withdrawal of Osun State’s controversial suit at the Supreme Court against the Attorney General of the Federation.
The suit, filed by the Osun Attorney General, challenged the direct disbursement of local government allocations by the federal government. However, K-RAD, as he is popularly known, minced no words in declaring the case “dead on arrival” and “an abuse of judicial process.”
According to Adegoke, the Supreme Court was never the appropriate forum for such a case, as the Attorney General of a state lacks the locus standi to file on behalf of constitutionally recognized local governments. “This matter should have been brought by the local governments themselves if indeed they felt aggrieved,” he argued.
Adegoke linked the withdrawal to two damning realities: first, the Supreme Court lacked original jurisdiction over the subject matter; and second, the federal defense team, led by Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, had prepared damning evidence that could have forced the Osun State Government to refund hundreds of billions of naira allegedly misappropriated from LG funds over the years.
In his words: “This case was doomed. They knew they would lose, and worse, be forced to repay funds. The only escape was to quietly withdraw before full exposure.”
The withdrawal also drew scrutiny because Osun State had filed a similar suit at the Federal High Court in Osogbo, targeting the AGF, the Accountant General of the Federation, and the CBN. Adegoke called this legal duplication “reckless and desperate,” branding it as a textbook abuse of court process.
K-RAD further contextualized the drama within the broader legal shift brought by the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, in AG Federation v. AG Abia & 35 others, which declared that state governments can no longer act as intermediaries in the disbursement of federal allocations to local governments.
“The Adeleke administration has lost control over LG funds,” Adegoke stated, “and with the Court of Appeal’s February 10, 2025 ruling reinstating duly elected LG officials, the desperation has only grown.”
He revealed that over ten legal cases are currently in motion—all aimed at regaining access to diverted funds and reinstating constitutional order. “What we are witnessing,” he concluded, “is a dying gasp of a regime that can no longer subvert grassroots democracy.”
