The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday postponed hearing in the suit filed by the Osun State Government to challenge alleged moves to release local government allocations to sacked local government officials in the state.
Trial judge Emeka Nwite adjourned the case until 22 September for hearing, to enable parties to exchange necessary filings.
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Before the adjournment, the defence accused the plaintiff, the Osun State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Wole Jimi-Bada, of deliberately stalling the case to prevent a resolution before the end of the disputed tenure of the sacked local government officials in October.
The Osun State Government, through its attorney-general, commenced the suit at the Osogbo Division of Federal High Court in May.
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It sued the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamsedeen Ogunjimi, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi.
The case was recently transferred to Abuja, based on the AGF’s prompting, for an expedited hearing by a vacation judge.
The suit centres on the lingering local government crisis set off by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s sacking of local government officials elected to office in the twilight of the tenure of his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, the incumbent Minister of Marine and Blue Economy. While Mr Adeleke is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Oyetola and the embattled sacked local government officials are of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The suit aims to stop alleged moves by the federal authorities to release local government allocations to the sacked local government officials.
Hearing
At Monday’s hearing, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), expressed displeasure over the transfer of the case from Osogbo to Abuja.
He informed the judge of a motion he filed to challenge the transfer of the case to Abuja during vacation, which, he said, raised the questions of “jurisdiction and alleged bias”. Alongside the application, he said, the plaintiff filed a motion to discontinue the case against the third defendant (the AGF). He said the motion had been served on the AGF office.
But the defence lawyers, all SANs – Muritala Abdulrasheed for the CBN, Tajudeen Oladoja for the Accountant General of the Federation, and Akin Olujinmi for the AGF, called for an expedited hearing, citing the need for the determination of the suit before the end of tenure of the sacked local government officials in October.
They said the transfer of the case to Abuja was informed by the need for its prompt determination, as it could become a “mere academic exercise” if not determined promptly.
CBN’s lawyer, Mr Abdulrasheed, recalled that the suit, first heard on 15 May, was adjourned until 4 June when an order was issued directing all parties to maintain the status quo.
Mr Abdulrasheed said the plaintiff proceeded to the Supreme Court to file a suit like the one pending at the Federal High Court to stall the resolution of the case until after the tenure of the sacked officials.
He urged the judge to jettison the preliminary objections by both sides and focus on the substantive matter.
The AGF’s lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, also a SAN, denied knowledge of the application by the plaintiff to discontinue the suit against his client. He urged the court to hear the substantive suit and not to waste time on technicalities.
However, plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr Adetunbi, countered that the case has been delayed for political reasons. He insisted there was no urgency in the case and asked for at least seven days to respond to all processes served on his client.
Background
In October 2022, during the twilight of the tenure of then-outgoing Governor Oyetola of the APC, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission conducted local government elections across the 30 local government areas of the state.
The PDP boycotted the local government elections. At the time, the party had already won the governorship election and its candidate, Mr Adeleke, was set to take office as governor.
The electoral commission announced APC as the winner of the elections.
The PDP challenged the process leading to the election in court.
In November 2022, the Federal High Court in Osogbo nullified the elections for violating the Electoral Act.
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Relying on the judgement, Governor Adeleke, sworn in three days earlier, dissolved the chairpersons and councillors of the local governments. He replaced them with caretaker committees.
The APC rejected the decision and appealed against it.
In February this year, the Court of Appeal in Akure struck out the PDP’s suit for lack of jurisdiction.
The APC then claimed its officials had been reinstated by the ruling. The sacked local government officials subsequently attempted to forcibly take over the local government secretariats, leading to fracas and violence in different parts of the states.
The Osun State Government later accused the CBN and the Accountant-General of the Federation of making moves to release local government allocations to the sacked local government officials. Earlier, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, had argued that the Court of Appeal judgement reinstated the sacked local government officials till October 2025.
In May, the Attorney-General of the state filed the suit against the CBN, the Accountant-General of the Federation and AGF Fagbemi to seek an order stopping the sacked local government officials from opening or operating bank accounts on behalf of the state’s local governments.
Trial judge Adefunmilola Demi-Ajayi granted an interim order directing all parties to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of the suit.
Recently, the AGF office, wrote to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, requesting that the case be heard in Abuja during the court’s vacation, and the request was granted.
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