The Osun State Government has withdrawn a lawsuit filed against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) at the Federal High Court in Abuja. According to Musibau Adetumbi, counsel to the state government, the case has been overtaken by events, as the allocation in question has been moved out of the CBN by the defendants.
The suit, which aimed to safeguard withheld local government funds, was initially filed by the Osun Attorney General on behalf of the state government. The case sought to prevent the Federal Government from releasing the funds to sacked chairmen and councillors elected during former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s tenure.
On September 22, the court had dropped the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the suit, as a similar case was already before the Supreme Court. During a hearing on September 29, Adetumbi stated that the primary aim was to safeguard the money, but between then and now, it was discovered that the funds had been moved out of the CBN, notwithstanding the court’s order of status quo.
The notice of discontinuance was filed pursuant to Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules. Adetumbi argued that further arguments in the matter would be an academic exercise. The CBN’s lawyer, Muritala Abdulrasheed, and the AGF’s lawyer, Tajudeen Oladoja, did not oppose the application for discontinuance but disagreed with the averments in the affidavit of facts attached to the application.
Abdulrasheed contended that the plaintiff made damaging depositions in the affidavit of facts, which could be used against persons not party to the matter. He urged the court to expunge certain paragraphs in the affidavit, citing inaccuracies and references to non-parties. Oladoja also opposed the grounds upon which the notice of discontinuance was predicated, arguing that the plaintiff was not obligated to provide such grounds.
Oladoja further requested a cost of N10 million against the plaintiff for bringing the matter to court and wasting judicial time. However, Adetumbi responded that a notice of discontinuance under the relevant rules does not attract cost, and the defendants had not filed any processes before the court.
The case has been adjourned until October 29 for a ruling on the plaintiff’s application for discontinuance and other applications by the defendants. This development comes after the judge dismissed the objection raised by the CBN and AGF against the suit, holding that the state’s Attorney General had the legal right to file the suit on behalf of the local government authorities.
