Osun LG Crisis: Group Appeals to Court for Prompt Judgment

A nonpartisan, youth-led civil society organisation, Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development (IICSD), has appealed to the Supreme Court to expedite judgment on the prolonged Osun Local Government suit between the Attorney General of Osun State and the Attorney General of the Federation.

The suit, marked SC/CV/773/2025, was heard on October 7, 2025, with judgment reserved, but remains undecided till date.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the group said the delay had continued to cripple grassroots governance in Osun, as two rival camps still lay claim to local council leadership across the state.

IICSD noted that allocations running into over ₦100 billion, released to Osun local governments since March 2025, have been largely inactive due to the leadership crisis, thereby affecting healthcare delivery, basic education, infrastructure development and other grassroots services.

The organisation, which is the brain behind the Osun Open Local Government Project (OsunOpenLG), said the legal uncertainty has stalled community-level development and weakened public trust in local governance.

OsunOpenLG, a civic transparency initiative, has over the years deployed community advocates across council areas to monitor local government performance, raise awareness on council finances, and promote citizen participation through town hall engagements, radio programmes and grassroots advocacy.

More recently, the project introduced a digital governance tool – Amoye, to enable residents access verified information about local government responsibilities, allocations and service delivery, in a bid to deepen transparency and accountability at the grassroots.

The organisation expressed confidence that a timely judgment by the apex court would restore stability to the council system and reposition local governments for effective service delivery.