The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 22, for the hearing of all applications filed in a suit by the Osun State Government against the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant-General of the Federation over alleged plans to divert Local Government allocations.
The case, which has stirred political controversy in Osun State, centres on the control of local government funds following the removal of chairmen elected in October 2022 under the All Progressives Congress.
The Osun Government, led by the Peoples Democratic Party, insists that those chairmen were sacked by a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court, a decision later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
At Monday’s proceedings, vacation judge Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter after hearing submissions from the parties.
The matter, which was mentioned before Justice Nwite, is also challenging the transfer of the suit from the Osogbo, Osun State division of the court to the Abuja Division.
The plaintiffs, represented by Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), acting for the state’s Attorney-General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, argued that the Abuja Division of the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
According to the motion, the plaintiff seeks the setting aside of the fiat said to have been given at the instance of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, contained in a letter dated August 21 signed by his personal assistant, Joshua Ibrahim.
The plaintiff also wants an order setting aside the directive of the CJ that the matter be heard by a vacation judge and that the court should decline jurisdiction to hear the matter during its annual vacation and return the case file to the Osogbo judicial division of the Federal High Court.
The suit is further seeking to restrain the CBN from opening accounts for the chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress in 2022, whom the state government affirmed have been sacked by the same Federal High Court.
Adetunbi also disclosed that Osun State had filed a notice of discontinuance against the Attorney-General of the Federation, who was initially joined as the third defendant, noting that a fresh suit had been filed at the Supreme Court to challenge the AGF’s alleged role in the dispute.
The CBN and the Accountant General of the Federation are listed as the first and second defendants.
According to the state, the AGF had filed an affidavit of urgency suggesting that local government allocations would be paid to the APC chairmen, whom the court had declared removed.
The plaintiff contends that this undermines existing judgments and necessitates recourse to the Supreme Court for constitutional clarification.
The motion states, “Sequel to the affidavit of urgency filed by the AGF on August 13, it became obvious that he is willing and at the verge of paying the allocation of the Constituent Local Government Councils of the plaintiff’s state to the illegal and sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors.
“Consequent on the above, the plaintiff is desirous of initiating and prosecuting a fresh suit against the 3rd defendant (AGF) at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“That some of the facts, questions, and issues to be tabled at the apex court against the AGF would be identical to the facts, questions, and issues before the trial court in the instant suit, and hence, the need to discontinue the suit against him.”
Counsel to the CBN, Dr Muritala Abdulrasheed, and counsel to the Accountant-General, Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN), however, opposed the applications, urging the court to proceed with the matter during the vacation period to avoid rendering it academic.
Counsel to the AGF, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), further argued that the plaintiff’s notice of discontinuance had not been properly served.
After hearing all sides, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to September 22, for the hearing of all pending applications.
The Osun Government is specifically seeking interim injunctions restraining the CBN and the Accountant-General from opening or maintaining accounts in the name of the sacked APC chairmen and councillors and from disbursing allocations meant for the state’s local governments to them.
The dispute forms part of a wider political battle in Osun State, where the PDP-led government has clashed with the APC over control of local councils and access to statutory federal allocations, which remain a critical source of funding for grassroots governance.
NAN