The Federal High Court in Abuja witnessed the commencement of a legal dispute yesterday, as the Osun State government contested the relocation of a case from the Osogbo Division to Abuja.
This lawsuit aims to prevent the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from establishing accounts for the chairpersons elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) banner in 2022, whom the state government claims were lawfully removed by the Federal High Court.
During proceedings, Mr. Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), representing the Osun State Attorney-General, informed Justice Emeka Nwite that the plaintiff had submitted two motions challenging the jurisdiction of the Abuja court to hear the case, which was transferred from the Osogbo division by order of the Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho.
One motion seeks to annul the authorization allegedly granted by the Chief Judge, referenced in a letter dated August 21 and signed by his personal assistant, Joshua Ibrahim.
Additionally, the plaintiff requests the court to revoke the Chief Judge’s instruction for the case to be heard by a vacation judge, urging the court to decline jurisdiction during the annual vacation and to return the case file to the Osogbo judicial division.
The second motion calls for the discontinuation of the suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, the third defendant, while the CBN and the Accountant-General of the Federation stand as the first and second defendants respectively.
The motion highlights that following an affidavit of urgency filed by the AGF on August 13, it became evident that the AGF intended to disburse funds allocated to the Constituent Local Government Councils of Osun State to the unlawfully removed APC chairpersons and councilors.
Consequently, the plaintiff intends to initiate a fresh lawsuit against the AGF at the Supreme Court, noting that several issues in the new case will overlap with those in the current trial, justifying the need to discontinue the suit against the AGF in this court.
In a separate motion filed on August 26, the plaintiff requested a stay of proceedings pending the resolution of a related Supreme Court case (SC/CV/773/2025) between the Osun State Attorney-General and the AGF.
One argument presented is that the AGF has shown reluctance to comply with a valid Court of Appeal ruling, instead filing an affidavit of urgency on August 13 to push forward his position.
The plaintiff contends that the AGF’s correspondence and affidavit reveal his readiness to allocate funds to the dismissed APC local government officials, despite the existing court judgments.
This defiant stance by the AGF prompted the plaintiff to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention to determine the legality of the Federation’s actions in funding local government councils led by officials removed by a binding court judgment upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Mr. Adetunbi confirmed that all legal documents had been properly served on the defendants, a claim disputed by Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, counsel for the AGF, who stated he had not received the motion to discontinue the case against his client.
Olujimi further argued that even if the discontinuance notice had been served, it would not halt the day’s proceedings without a court order, emphasizing that such notices must be accompanied by proof of service.
Representing the CBN, Dr. Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, informed the court that the AGF had requested the Chief Judge to expedite the hearing of the case by assigning it to a vacation judge.
He also noted that the CBN, as the first defendant, had filed seven motions opposing the plaintiff’s request to stay proceedings and challenging the Chief Judge’s authority to transfer the case from Osun to Abuja.
Meanwhile, counsel for the Accountant-General of the Federation, Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, argued that postponing the hearing until after the court’s vacation would render the case moot and urged the court to consider all pending motions collectively.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter until September 22, 2025, for the hearing of all outstanding applications.
The suit, initiated by Osun State’s Attorney-General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, seeks to prevent the CBN and AGF from opening or maintaining bank accounts for the local government chairpersons elected in October 2022 under the APC, citing their removal by court order.
