The Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has raised alarm over an alleged attempt by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to relocate a case concerning seized local government allocations from the Federal High Court in Osogbo to Abuja.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday at the Osun State Government Secretariat, Abere, the state NULGE President, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbangbe, alleged that the AGF’s office had applied for an urgent hearing during the court vacation at the Federal High Court in Abuja, bypassing the proceedings already underway in Osogbo.
Dr. Ogungbangbe criticized the move, questioning the sudden urgency after months of inaction.
“On May 12, 2025, the Osun State Government filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Osogbo to protect local government funds meant for the people. The court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo. Yet, we later discovered efforts to divert these funds into accounts created for previously sacked officials,” he said.
He noted that only public outcry and a Court of Appeal ruling on June 13, 2025, prevented the alleged diversion.
According to Ogungbangbe, the AGF’s office had been unresponsive since being served on May 16, 2025, with only the Central Bank submitting a late response.
“Now, in August, the AGF is suddenly claiming urgency and pushing for the case to be heard in Abuja during the court’s vacation. We must ask: why the rush, why now, and why Abuja? This urgency is entirely self-induced,” he stated.
The NULGE president warned that the move to shift the case could be an attempt to use the vacation court system in Abuja to reverse decisions already made by the Court of Appeal.
“We strongly believe this is a backdoor attempt to undermine judicial rulings and manipulate the system,” he added.
Ogungbangbe called for the case to proceed at the Federal High Court in Osogbo as originally scheduled, urging the judiciary to resist interference and uphold due process.
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