insists case be returned to Osogbo as CBN, AGF oppose objection
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 29 for hearing of a motion by the Osun State Government challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain a suit on withheld local government funds.
At the resumed sitting, the state government, through its lead counsel, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), argued that since the court’s vacation ended on September 16, the matter ought to be returned to the Osogbo Division for proper hearing and determination.
Adetunbi’s motion challenging the Abuja court’s jurisdiction was hinged on two grounds: that the authorisation earlier granted the Attorney General of the Federation for the case to be heard in Abuja during vacation had lapsed with the end of the vacation, and that a purported letter from the Chief Judge’s office mandating Justice Nwite to hear the case was irregular.
He contended that the letter was signed by a “Personal Assistant to the Personal Assistant of the Chief Judge,” a person he described as a “busybody” unknown to law to issue such a sensitive directive. Adetunbi therefore urged the court to determine the authenticity of the letter before proceeding to the substantive matter.
However, counsel to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN), and that of the Accountant General of the Federation, Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN), opposed the application. They alleged that it was a ploy by the Osun State Government to stall proceedings.
The duo argued that the tenure of the elected All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors would expire on October 22, and that any further delay would render the case academic.
After listening to arguments, Justice Nwite adjourned to September 29 for hearing of the Osun State Government’s jurisdictional challenge and other related applications.
Earlier in the proceedings, the judge struck out the name of the Attorney General of the Federation as the 3rd defendant in the matter following the plaintiff’s withdrawal of the suit against him. Counsel to Osun State explained that the decision was taken because another suit involving the AGF is already pending before the Supreme Court.
The suit, filed by the Osun State Attorney General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, seeks to restrain the CBN and the Accountant General from opening or operating accounts for APC chairmen elected in the October 2022 council election. The state government maintains that the chairmen, who were elected in a poll contested only by APC candidates, had been sacked by a Federal High Court judgment later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
Specifically, Osun is praying the court for an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from disbursing allocations or maintaining accounts in favour of the sacked chairmen and councillors.
