•State Assembly makes fresh resolutions on management of allocations

Emmanuel Addeh and Alex Enumah in Abuja

The federal government yesterday denied releasing the withheld Osun State Local Government financial allocation to chairmen and councillors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), made the denial at the resumed hearing of the suit challenging the planned release of the LG funds to the APC chairmen and councillors.

The Osun State Government had dragged the CBN and AGF to court challenging the federal government’s action on the grounds that the said APC chairmen and councillors have been sacked by the Federal High Court in Osogbo, over controversies surrounding their election.

Pending commencement of hearing in the suit, the federal government last month applied for expedited hearing of the suit by a vacation court, due to the limited time for the expiration of the tenure of the LG officials, who are due to vacate office come October 22.

At the resumed hearing by Justice Emeka Nwite, who sat as a vacation judge, before moving their motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court to continue hearing in the matter, lawyer to the Osun State Government, Mr Musibau Adetunbi (SAN) informed the court that despite the pendency of the suit and the order of the court, the status quo should be maintained.

He said that the defendants have gone ahead to release the allocation to the APC chairmen and councillors through a special account opened for them at the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

He however disclosed that the plaintiff in a swift reaction approached a High Court of Oyo State and secured a restraining order stopping the bank from disbursing the said funds. The senior lawyer explained that his client had to get the restraining order from the neighbouring state as the court in Osun State had been on strike.

Adetunbi further told Justice Nwite that the restraining order had been served on the bank and the defendants, adding that he does not have documentary evidence with him at the moment.

Responding, Murtala Abdulrasheed and Tajudeen Oladoja, both SANs, who  represented the CBN and AGF respectively, denied that their client had effected the release of the money to the APC local government chairmen as alleged by the plaintiffs.

In their separate submissions the two senior lawyers insisted that the information by the plaintiff counsel remains in the realms of rumours in the absence of documentary evidence.

They subsequently urged the court to discountenance the claim of the plaintiff and proceed with the business of the day which is the hearing of the motion challenging the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

They pleaded with the court not to grant the request for adjournment by the plaintiff on the grounds that time is already running out on the APC chairmen and councillors, whose tenure would expire on October 22.

In his motion seeking to transfer hearing in the case to the Osogbo division of the Federal High Court, Adetunbi argued that since the vacation of the court had ended, the suit should be transferred to where it was originally instituted.

He insisted that transferring the suit from Osogbo to Abuja was in bad faith because there was no urgency to warrant such action.

Specifically, he said that the letter transferring the case by the Chief Judge (CJ) of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, gave untenable reason that all the defendants are based in Abuja, adding that such reason ought not to have come from the Chief Judge except the defendants.

But the defendants however opposed the submissions of the plaintiff, stressing that the letter transferring the case from Osogbo to Abuja made it clear that the Abuja court should hear the suit expeditiously.

They argued that transferring a case by the CJ was an administrative decision that cannot be challenged by the Osun State Government. After listening to arguments of all parties, Justice Nwite subsequently fixed October 16, for ruling on whether or not the suit should be returned to Osogbo for continuation of hearing.

Meanwhile, the Osun State House of Assembly, at its plenary yesterday passed a resolution on the proper management, operation, and procedures for the withdrawal of Local Government funds across the State, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Olamide Tiamiyu, said.

This resolution, which it said is backed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Osun State Guidelines on Local Government Administration, 2025 and the Osun State Public Financial Management Law, 2020, among others, affirmed that only duly authorised officers under the employment of the Local Government Service Commission are permitted to be signatories to Local Government accounts;

It added: “That any attempt by unauthorised persons to access Local Government funds is unlawful, unconstitutional, and of no legal effect. That all commercial and other financial institutions operating in Osun State are directed to comply strictly with this resolution, while government agencies are to ensure close monitoring and enforcement;

 “That any violation of this directive will be treated as aiding and abetting financial fraud and will attract full legal consequences under the law; and that,  this step is taken in the public interest to safeguard the resources of our Local Governments, ensure accountability, and guarantee that funds meant for grassroots development are protected from abuse or diversion.”

The House therefore called on members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspected infractions to the appropriate authorities. “Together, we must uphold transparency and probity in governance,” it stressed .

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