Withheld LG funds: Court fixes Sep.29 to hear motion on jurisdiction

By Sodiq Adelakun

The Federal High Court in Abuja has set September 29, 2025, as the date to hear a motion filed by the Osun State Government.

The motion challenges the Abuja division's authority to hear a suit concerning withheld Local Government funds.

Justice Emeka Nwite announced the date after hearing submissions from all parties involved. The plaintiff's lawyer, Chief Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), argued that since the Federal High Court's vacation ended on September 16, the case should be returned to the Osogbo division, where it was originally filed.

He insisted that the court's Chief Judge's fiat, which allowed the case to be transferred to Abuja during the vacation, had expired.

Adetunbi also questioned the legitimacy of a letter purportedly authorizing Justice Nwite to retain the case in Abuja, claiming it was signed by an individual with no legal authority to do so.

He described the signatory as a busybody unknown to the law.

In opposition, the defense lawyers, Dr. Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN) for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Mr. Tajudeen Oladoja (SAN) for the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), dismissed the motion as a tactic to delay proceedings.

They warned that the tenure of the elected All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councilors in Osun would expire on October 22, which could make the suit academic if not resolved quickly.

Earlier in the proceedings, the Court struck out the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as the third defendant after the Osun State Government withdrew its claims against him. The plaintiff's counsel explained that a related case against the AGF is already pending before the Supreme Court.

The suit was originally filed in the Osogbo division by Osun’s Attorney-General, Mr. Oluwole Jimi-Bada, on behalf of the state government.

The State is seeking to prevent the CBN and the AGF from releasing statutory allocations to the APC chairmen and councilors elected in 2022, arguing that they were already sacked by a Federal High Court decision, which was later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

The State is also asking for an order to prevent the defendants from opening or operating any accounts for the allegedly sacked local government officials.

Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to September 29 for the jurisdictional motion to be heard.