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From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, has faulted the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for its intervention and position on the Local Government matter in Osun State.
In a rejoinder to the NBA’s letter calling for “immediate release” of local government allocations in Osun State, Adegoke noted that NBA is not a party, wondering why the association was taking sides in the matter.
Reacting to the letter jointly signed by the President and the Secretary General of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Affam Osigwe and Mr. Mobolaji Ojibara, respectively, urging the Federal Government to direct the “immediate release” of local government allocations in Osun State, Adegoke described the association’s position as non-neutrality, inaccuracy, and jurisprudential weakness of its intervention.
“The position canvassed by the NBA is gravely mistaken and ought to be discountenanced by the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Federal Government, and indeed, all stakeholders.
“The NBA, by its own admission, acknowledged the existence of a “legal impasse” regarding the rightful officials of the Osun State Local Government Councils. Yet, despite admitting this impasse, it went on to pronounce, as if it were the Supreme Court of Nigeria, that the funds should be released to one party to the dispute. This is partisanship disguised as pursuit of due process.
“The NBA is not a party to the case. It has no locus, no mandate, and no jurisdiction to review or interpret the judgments of the courts. With respect, its attempt to arrogate to itself the role of a super-court is an error of law and logic borne out of organizational arrogance and loss of direction.
“As the Supreme Court made clear in Orker Jev & Ors v Iyortom & Ors [2015] NWLR (Pt. 1483) 484, the only body competent to give final interpretation of Court of Appeal judgments is the Supreme Court itself. The NBA’s position, therefore, carries no binding force and must be treated as no more than a partisan opinion.”
Presenting the facts of the matter in the legal battle between October 15, 2022 and June 13, 2025, Adegoke urged the federal government to release the local government allocation to the ‘duly elected’ chairmen of the APC.
“In the final analysis, the NBA’s intervention in this matter is a regrettable descent from neutrality into partisanship. By presuming to dictate to the Federal Government how judicial decisions should be interpreted, the NBA has exceeded its remit. Its reliance on obiter dicta, technical dismissals, and selective recounting of facts betray a predetermined bias rather than a genuine commitment to the rule of law.
“The facts speak clearly, that is, there were no vacancies in the Osun State Local Government Councils when the so-called PDP elections of 22nd February 2025 were conducted. The APC officials remain the validly elected and sworn-in office holders and the Court of Appeal’s February 10, 2025 judgment, which nullified the very foundation of the purported removal of the APC officials, remains the prevailing law on the issue. To pretend otherwise is to elevate confusion over clarity.
“Moreover, the June 13 ruling cannot be used to validate what was never before the court. The lead judgment was categorical in refusing to relist Appeal No. CA/AK/226M2025 and in warning against creating confusion by revisiting matters already settled in the February 10 judgment. The unfortunate remarks in the concurring opinion of one Justice cannot outweigh or displace the binding authority of the lead judgment. To rely on such obiter is a jurisprudential travesty. “The NBA’s so-called Committee, which it claimed it set up to review this matter, lacks the standing, competence, or authority to pronounce upon or interpret the judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction. The NBA is not the Supreme Court of Nigeria; it is not even a party to the suit. Its findings are therefore advisory at best, partisan at worst, and certainly not binding on the Federal Government.
“We, therefore, urge the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, the Federal Government, and all relevant stakeholders to ignore the distractions being sown by partisanship and to stand firmly by the law. The only lawful recipients of the withheld Local Government allocations in Osun State are the democratically elected APC Chairmen and Councillors, whose tenure endures till this moment.
“Justice, due process, and fidelity to the Constitution demand nothing less. The Federal Government should, without further delay, release the funds to the APC Chairmen and Councillors, thereby upholding the integrity of lawful elections and resisting the creeping culture of illegitimacy. In this cause, history and the law are firmly on our side,” Adegoke said.
