The Osun State Government has filed a notice to withdraw its lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation over withheld local government funds.
At the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, counsel to the state, Musibau Adetumbi (SAN), informed Justice Emeka Nwite that the case had been overtaken by events. According to him, the purpose of the suit, which is to protect the local government allocations allegedly withheld had been defeated since the funds in question were no longer in the custody of the CBN.
The lawsuit, filed by the Osun State Attorney-General, sought to prevent the Federal Government from releasing local government funds to former council chairmen and councillors who served under ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Justice Nwite had earlier struck out the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the case on September 22, after the Osun government opted to discontinue that part of the suit, citing a similar matter already before the Supreme Court.
Adetumbi explained that the government’s main concern was to safeguard the funds while the case was pending. However, he said the funds had since been moved from the CBN despite an existing court order maintaining the status quo. The withdrawal notice, he noted, was filed under Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules.
Both counsel for the CBN, Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN), and for the AGF, Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN), did not oppose the state’s decision to discontinue the case. However, they took issue with certain claims made in the accompanying affidavit, which they argued contained inaccurate statements and references to individuals not involved in the suit.
Abdulrasheed asked the court to strike out paragraphs 5 to 11 of the affidavit, warning that the statements could be misused in the future since they are part of the official record. He also described some of the plaintiff’s claims as being made in bad faith, insisting that his client had already filed a 12-paragraph counter-affidavit in May.
Oladoja, on his part, argued that while the plaintiff was free to withdraw the case, the reasons cited in the notice were flawed. He also sought a ₦10 million cost against the Osun government for bringing his client to court and for wasting the court’s time.
In response, Adetumbi maintained that under the Federal High Court Rules, a notice of discontinuance does not attract any cost and accused the defendants of failing to file their responses on time.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to October 29 for a ruling on the plaintiff’s withdrawal application and the defendants’ related motions.
Earlier, on Thursday, the same judge had ruled that the Osun Attorney-General had the legal standing to institute the case on behalf of local government authorities in the state.
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