The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ànd the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) have denied reports of the release of the withheld Osun State local government financial allocations to the chairmen and councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in 2022.
The two government agencies told a Federal High Court in Abuja that the claim of releasing the funds to the disputed chairmen and councillors whose tenure would expire on October 22 was a realm of rumours.
The Osun State Government’s counsel, Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, told Justice Emeka Nwite that the funds, which are the subject of litigation before his court, had been unlawfully released to the APC chairmen between Thursday and Friday last week.
Adetunbi specifically confirmed that despite the order of the court that the status quo should be maintained pending the resolution of the suit on the financial allocation, CBN and OAGF released the withheld money through special accounts opened for the disputed Local Government chairmen at the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
The senior lawyer, however, said that in a swift reaction, the Osun State Government approached a High Court of Oyo State and secured a restraining order against the bank, stopping it from disbursing the funds to the affected persons.
Adetunbi further told the court that his client had to approach the Oyo State High Court because their counterpart in Osun State had been on strike.
While admitting that the restraining order had been served on the bank, CBN, and OAGF, he said that he had no documentary evidence at the time of his submissions to be placed before the court.
In their reactions, Murtala Abdulrasheed and Tajudeen Oladoja, both SANs and representing CBN ànd OAGF respectively, denied that their clients have affected the release of the money to the APC local government chairmen as alleged by the plaintiff.
In their separate submissions, the two senior lawyers who aligned with themselves insisted that the information provided by the plaintiff counsel remained rumours despite documentary evidence.
In his motion to transfer the hearing in the case to Osogbo, the Osun State lawyer said that since the court vacation had lapsed, the suit should be moved to where it was initially instituted in the interest of justice, fair hearing, and fair play.
Adetunbi insisted that transferring the suit from Osogbo to Abuja during vacation was in bad faith and questionable because there was no urgency to warrant such action.
Specifically, he said that the letter transferring the case by the Chief judge of the Federal High Court gave untenable reasons that all the defendants are based in Abuja, adding that such reasons ought not to have come from the Chief Judge except for the defendants.
In vehement opposition, CBN and OAGF argued that the letter transferring the case from Osogbo to Abuja clarified that the Abuja court should hear the suit substantively.
The two agencies said that Chief Judge John Tsoho’s transfer of a case was an administrative decision that the Osun State Government could not challenge.
They pleaded that the case be expeditiously determined in Abuja. Meanwhile, Justice Nwite has fixed October 16 for a ruling on whether the suit should be returned to Osogbo.
