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Supreme Court · 2004
May the Federal Government withhold statutory allocations due to a state's local government councils?
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This decision is reported in the Nigerian law reports. Locate it by its case name in a law report series or through the court's own record, and read the judgment before relying on it.
The question the court actually had to answer. Everything a judgment settles flows from this, and nothing beyond it does.
May the Federal Government withhold statutory allocations due to a state's local government councils?
A dispute arose over the creation of additional local government areas by a state and the Federal Government's response of withholding funds due to the state's local government councils.
The state invoked the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court held that the Federal Government was not entitled to withhold the statutory allocations.
It addressed the constitutional process for local government creation and the distinct question of entitlement to funds.
Stated narrowly, as the case is genuinely cited for — not stretched into the broader proposition it is often summarised as.
Constitutional entitlement to statutory allocations is not a lever the Federal Government may pull to enforce its view of a separate constitutional question.
Our explanation of what the decision means for an ordinary reader. It is not the judgment.
Federal and state governments disagree, and when they do the Constitution provides a court, not a contest of leverage. Money constitutionally due cannot be held back to win a different argument.
It is also a good illustration of the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction: certain disputes between the Federation and a state start at the top rather than working their way up.
The part most summaries leave out, and the part that most often causes a case to be cited for something it never decided.
Named generally. Read the official text of any instrument you intend to rely on.
This decision is reported in the Nigerian law reports. Locate it by its case name in a law report series or through the court's own record, and read the judgment before relying on it.
Subject area: The Constitution