The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 22 for the hearing of all applications in a suit filed 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 heightened political tensions in Osun, revolves around control of local government funds following the removal of council chairmen elected in October 2022 under the All Progressives Congress.
The Osun State Government, led by the Peoples Democratic Party, maintains that those chairmen were sacked by a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal.
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At Monday’s proceedings, vacation judge Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter after hearing submissions from all parties.
The case, which came up for mention, also raises questions about the transfer of the suit from the Osogbo Division of the court to the Abuja Division.
Represented by Musibau Adetunbi (SAN) on behalf of the state’s Attorney-General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, the plaintiffs argued that the Abuja Division lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
They urged the court to set aside the fiat allegedly issued at the instance of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, contained in a letter dated August 21 and signed by his personal assistant, Joshua Ibrahim.
The plaintiff also sought an order nullifying the Chief Judge’s directive that the matter be heard by a vacation judge, urging instead that the case file be returned to the Osogbo Division.
In addition, the suit is asking the court to restrain the CBN from opening accounts for the sacked APC chairmen and councillors, whom the state insists have no legal standing.
Adetunbi disclosed that the state had filed a notice of discontinuance against the AGF, initially joined as the third defendant, on the grounds that a fresh action had been instituted at the Supreme Court to challenge his alleged role in the dispute.
The plaintiff’s motion stated: “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 for the CBN, Dr. Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN), and counsel to the Accountant-General, Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN), opposed the applications, urging the court to proceed with the case during the vacation to prevent it from being overtaken by events.
Similarly, counsel for the AGF, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), argued that the plaintiff’s notice of discontinuance had not been properly served.
After taking arguments, Justice Nwite adjourned 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 names of the sacked APC chairmen and councillors, and from disbursing allocations meant for the state’s local governments to them.
The dispute is part of a wider political battle in Osun, where the PDP-led administration and the opposition APC continue to clash over control of local councils and access to statutory federal allocations, a vital source of funding for grassroots governance.
