LG Funds: Osun applies to withdraw suit against CBN, AGoF

… as court fixes Oct 29 to rule

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– Osun State, on Friday, applied to withdraw the suit it filed against the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Accountant General of the Federation, AGoF, over alleged plot to pay its withheld local government allocations, into accounts of Chairmen and Councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, but sacked by the court.

At the resumed proceeding on the matter, the state, through its Attorney General, maintained that the suit it lodged before the Federal High Court in Abuja, had been overtaken by events.

The Osun state AG, who was represented by Mr. Musibau Adetumbi, SAN, told the court that the aim of the suit, which was to safeguard the withheld funds, had been defeated.

According to him, the said funds have since been moved out of the CBN by the defendants.

He said: “On September 29, when the matter was heard, I told the court that our primary aim was to safeguard the money. Between then and now, we are sure that notwithstanding the pendency of the case and order of status quo, the money was moved out of the CBN.”

Adetumbi, SAN, told the court that the notice to withdraw the suit was filed pursuant to Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules, stressing that further arguments on the matter would amount to an academic exercise.

Contrary to contention by the defendants, the Osun state government insisted that tenure of the APC sacked LG Chairmen and Councillors elapsed on October 16.

Elven though neither the CBN nor the AGoF opposed the withdrawal application, however, they faulted some averments in the affidavit of facts that was filed to support it.

Counsel to the CBN, Dr. Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, decried that the plaintiff made damaging depositions in the affidavit that were not true.

“Somebody can approach the court any day with a request for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the process and may decide to use it against the persons mentioned in the plaintiff’s affidavit of facts,” he lamented.

He argued that grounds upon which the notice of discontinuance was predicated were in bad faith.

For instance, he told the court that the plaintiff was wrong when it claimed that the 1st defendant had no competent response to the suit, nothing that a 12-paragraph counter-affidavit was filed since May to challenge the competence of the action.

“While we are not opposing the withdrawal of the suit, we are against the grounds for the withdrawal,” Muritala, SAN, submitted.

He urged the court to expunge paragraphs 5 to 11 of the affidavit of facts for being inaccurate and for referring to persons that were not part of the suit.

On his part, counsel to the AGoF, Mr. Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, argued that though the plaintiff was at liberty to withdraw the suit, “however, we are in vehement opposition to the 2nd ground upon which the application is predicated,” he stated.

He explained that his client had on September 8, filed an application for extension of time to file a counter-affidavit to oppose the suit.

He further noted that the said application could not be determined owing to a motion the plaintiff filed to accuse the court of bias.

Oladoja, SAN, asked the court to discontinuance ground two of the notice of discontinuance which he said alleged that certain money had been released.

Besides, he applied for the court to award a cost of N10 million against the plaintiff for bringing the 2nd defendant to court; for processes already filed in the matter; and for wasting the precious judicial time of the court.

In his response, counsel to Osun state, Adetumbi, SAN, argued that by rules of the court, none of the defendants was entitled to be awarded a cost.

After he had listened to the parties, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter till October 29 for ruling.

It will be recalled that the Supreme Court had earlier reserved its judgement on legal issues surrounding the withheld Osun state LG funds.

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