COURT FIXES SEPTEMBER 22 FOR HEARING IN OSUN GOVT’S SUIT AGAINST CBN, AGF OVER DIVERSION OF LG FUNDS
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By: Sefiu Ajape
The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled September 22 for the hearing of all applications in the suit filed by the Osun State Government against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation over alleged plans to divert local government allocations.
The dispute, which has fueled political controversy in Osun, revolves around the control of local government funds following the removal of chairmen elected in October 2022 under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Osun Government, led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), maintains that the APC chairmen were “sacked by a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court,” a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
At Monday’s session, vacation judge Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter after listening to submissions from the parties.
The case, now before Justice Nwite, also challenges the transfer of the suit from the Osogbo Division of the court to the Abuja Division.
Representing the state’s Attorney-General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, counsel Musibau Adetunbi (SAN) argued that the Abuja Division “lacked jurisdiction” to hear the matter.
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The plaintiff’s motion seeks to set aside the fiat allegedly issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, in a letter dated August 21 and signed by his personal assistant, Joshua Ibrahim.
The state also seeks an order reversing the CJ’s directive that the matter be handled by a vacation judge, urging that the case file be returned to Osogbo.
The suit further asks the court to restrain the CBN from opening accounts for APC chairmen elected in 2022, whom the government insists have already been “sacked by the same Federal High Court.”
Adetunbi also disclosed that Osun had filed a notice of discontinuance against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), originally joined as the third defendant, noting that a fresh suit had been filed at the Supreme Court to challenge the AGF’s alleged role.
The motion stressed: “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), opposed the applications, urging the court to continue hearing the matter during the vacation to avoid rendering it “academic.”
Counsel to the AGF, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), also argued that the notice of discontinuance “had not been properly served.”
After considering arguments from all sides, Justice Nwite adjourned proceedings until September 22 for hearing of all pending applications.
The Osun Government is pressing for interim injunctions to restrain the CBN and Accountant-General from opening or maintaining accounts in the name of the “sacked APC chairmen and councillors” and from disbursing local government allocations to them.
The case underscores the intensifying political battle in Osun, where the PDP-led administration and the APC remain locked in conflict over local council control and access to statutory federal allocations, a lifeline for grassroots governance.
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