Osun Government Challenges Court Jurisdiction in Suit Against CBN Over APC Chairmen

At the resumed hearing of the legal battle involving the Osun State Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Accountant General of the Federation, arguments over jurisdiction dominated proceedings before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Osun State Government, through its lead counsel Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, argued that the case should no longer be heard in Abuja since the court’s vacation ended on September 16. According to Adetunbi, the authorization granted by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) for the matter to be heard during vacation in Abuja had lapsed, and the case should therefore be transferred back to Osogbo for determination.

The state also challenged the validity of a letter from the office of the Chief Judge directing Justice Emeka Nwite to hear the matter substantively in Abuja. Adetunbi insisted that the letter was questionable as it was signed by someone who claimed to be a Personal Assistant to the Personal Assistant of the Chief Judge — a person he described as “a busy body unknown to law” for such a sensitive directive. He urged the court to first rule on the validity of the letter before touching the substantive matter.

However, counsel to the CBN, Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, and that of the Accountant General of the Federation, Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, opposed the Osun Government’s application. They accused the state of attempting to stall proceedings, stressing that the case needed urgent resolution since the tenure of the elected APC chairmen and councillors would expire on October 22, potentially rendering the suit academic.

Justice Nwite adjourned ruling on the jurisdictional objections to September 29, stating that the court would first decide on the competence of the case before any substantive issues are addressed.

Earlier, the judge struck out the name of the AGF as a defendant, following the plaintiff’s withdrawal of the suit against him due to a related matter already pending before the Supreme Court.

The Osun State Government, represented by Attorney General Oluwole Jimi-Bada, is seeking an injunction to restrain the CBN and the Accountant General from opening or operating local government accounts for APC chairmen and councillors elected in October 2022. The state maintains that these officials were sacked by a Federal High Court judgment, a decision later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

Specifically, the suit seeks to stop federal agencies from disbursing allocations to the ousted APC officials, insisting that any such action would undermine subsisting court judgments.