The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, struck out the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from a suit regarding the withheld Osun State Local Government funds. This was even as the Osun State Government asked for the return of the case to Osogbo Division of the court, where it was originally filed.
Judge Emeka Nwite dropped the AGF, originally the third defendant, from the suit after the plaintiff opted to discontinue the case against him.
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The plaintiff’s lawyer, Musibau Adetumbi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court on 8 September, when the case first came before Mr Nwite, that a similar suit was already pending against the AGF at the Supreme Court.
The Osun State Government, through its Attorney-General, filed the suit at the Osogbo Division of the Federal High Court in May. It sued the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, and the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi.
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The suit filed by the Governor Ademola Adeleke-led Osun State Government aims to stop alleged moves by the federal authorities to release the withheld local government allocations to sacked local government officials elected during the tenure of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s tenure.
During the court’s vacation, which began in late July and ended on 16 September, the AGF office asked the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to allow the case to be heard in Abuja for prompt determination, and the request was granted.
Request for transfer of case to Osun
At Monday’s hearing, the Osun State Government, in a motion, called for the return of the case to the Osogbo Division.
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The state’s lead lawyer, Mr Adetumbi, who filed the motion, challenged the jurisdiction of the Abuja Division, on the grounds that the approval given for the case to be heard in Abuja during the court’s vacation had expired as the vacation had come to an end.
Second, the motion questioned the validity of a letter from the office of the Chief Judge assigning Judge Nwite to handle the case in Abuja.
Mr Adetumbi said the letter was signed by someone claiming to be the personal assistant to the personal assistant of the Chief Judge. He said the person lacked the authority to sign such a letter and urged the court to first rule on the letter’s validity before hearing the main case.
However, lawyers to the CBN, Muritala Abdulrasheed, and to the Accountant-General of the Federation, Tajudeen Oladoja, both SANs, opposed the motion. They argued it was a ploy to delay the case and raised concerns that the tenure of the elected APC chairpersons and councillors, whose interests are at stake in the case, would end on 22 October. He said the case would become academic if not promptly heard and determined.
After listening to the lawyers, Mr Nwite fixed 29 September for proper hearing of the Osun State Government’s application and any other matters on jurisdiction before proceeding to the substantive suit.
How it started
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission conducted local government elections across the 30 councils during the final days of the outgoing Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC. The PDP, which just won the governorship election, with its candidate, Ademola Adeleke, getting set to take office, boycotted the local government polls. The state election commission declared APC and their canddiates the winners across the local government areas.
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.
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.
READ ALSO: Osun governor, Adeleke, speaks on ADC defection speculation
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.
During the court’s vacatoion, 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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