The Osun State Government has filed a notice to withdraw its lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) over withheld local government funds.
During Friday’s hearing at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Osun’s counsel, Musibau Adetumbi (SAN), informed Justice Emeka Nwite that the case had been overtaken by events. He explained that the state had initially approached the court to safeguard local government allocations but the funds in question had already been moved from the CBN.
Earlier, the Osun Attorney-General had sued the CBN, AGF, and Attorney-General of the Federation on behalf of the state. However, the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation was removed from the suit on September 22, after the court noted that a similar case was already pending before the Supreme Court.
The suit sought to stop the Federal Government from releasing withheld allocations to former local government chairmen and councillors elected under ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Adetumbi said the withdrawal notice was filed in line with Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules, stressing that continuing the case would now be a mere academic exercise.
Lawyers representing the CBN, Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN), and the AGF, Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN), did not oppose the application for discontinuance but objected to certain statements in the plaintiff’s affidavit. They argued that the affidavit contained “damaging” claims against individuals not party to the suit and urged the court to strike out paragraphs 5 to 11 for being inaccurate.
While both defendants agreed that the case could be withdrawn, they contested some grounds of the notice and requested the court to impose a ₦10 million cost on the Osun Government for wasting the court’s time.
In response, Adetumbi insisted that the rules of the court do not support awarding costs in such circumstances, noting that the defendants failed to file their responses on time.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to October 29 for a ruling on the application for discontinuance and other pending motions.
Earlier, on Thursday, the court had ruled that the Osun Attorney-General had the legal standing to initiate the suit on behalf of the state’s local government councils.
