The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, fixed September 29, 2025, for the hearing of a motion by the Osun state government challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit against the withheld Local Government (LG) fund.
The state government insisted that, since the vacation of the court came to an end on September 16, the case should be transferred back to the Osogbo division of the court for appropriate hearing and determination of the suit.
Its motion challenging the jurisdiction of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to hear the matter was predicated on two grounds, which are that the fiat granted to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) for the matter to be heard in Abuja had been overtaken on the ground that the vacation of the court had come to an end.
The motion filed by its lead counsel, Musibau Adetumbi, SAN, also challenged the validity of a purported letter from the office of the Chief Judge of the court mandating Justice Emeka Nwite to substantively determine the suit in Abuja.
The grouse of Adetumbi against the letter was that it was signed by a person who claimed to be the personal assistant to the Chief Judge.
Adetumbi contended that the personal assistant to the Chief Judge is not a person known to the law to sign such a sensitive document.
Insisting that the integrity of the letter is in doubt, the senior lawyer pleaded with Justice Nwite to first determine the validity of the letter before proceeding to the hearing of the substantive matter.
However, counsel to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN and that of the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, who are defendants in the suit, challenged the application of the plaintiff, alleging that it was a ploy to delay the expeditious hearing of the matter.
The two senior lawyers told the court that the tenure of the elected Chairmen and Councillors of the All Progressive Congress (APC) will come to an end on October 22, and as such, their case will become academic if the suit is not expeditiously heard.
After taking arguments from the parties, Justice Nwite fixed September 29 to hear the application by the Osun state government and any other application that borders on the jurisdiction of the court first before proceeding to any other one.
Earlier, the Judge had struck out the name of the Attorney General of the Federation, who was the 3rd defendant in the suit, following the discontinuance of the matter against him by the plaintiff.
Plaintiff counsel said the matter was discontinued against the AGF as another suit against him is pending before the Supreme Court.
The suit filed by the Attorney General of Osun state, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, on behalf of the state government is seeking to restrain the CBN from opening accounts for the chairmen elected on the platform of the APC in 2022, whom the state government affirmed have been sacked by the same Federal High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
The suit also seeks to restrain the CBN and the Accountant General of the Federation from opening and maintaining accounts for the local government chairmen elected in October 2022 under the APC.
The chairmen in question were elected in an election that only featured candidates from the APC.
