A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a preliminary objection filed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) which sought to halt a suit initiated by the Osun State government. The suit challenges the withholding of local government area (LGA) funds and the alleged planned release of allocations to sacked LGA officials who were elected during the tenure of the former governor, Adegboyega Oyetola. Presiding Judge Emeka Nwite delivered a ruling on Thursday, affirming that the Attorney-General of Osun State possesses the legal standing, or locus standi, to institute the case on behalf of the state’s local government councils.
Justice Nwite rejected the defendants’ argument that the Osun Attorney-General was not legally entitled to file the suit, stating that as the state’s chief law officer, he holds the constitutional duty and authority to protect the public interest, which includes safeguarding the allocations meant for the local government councils. The court also dismissed a separate application by the defendants claiming that the case constituted an abuse of court process. The judge ruled that the court found no evidence that the Osun State government had “misused or perverted the expression of justice,” noting that the pendency of similar proceedings elsewhere did not automatically make the current case an abuse of judicial process.
The court further addressed a motion filed by the Osun State government, which had challenged the administrative transfer of the case from the Osogbo division of the Federal High Court to the Abuja division. Justice Nwite upheld the transfer, citing Section 21(1) of the Federal High Court Act, which empowers the Chief Judge to transfer any matter to another division at any stage before the final judgment is delivered. Consequently, the application by the Osun government, seeking to return the case to Osogbo, was dismissed for lacking merit.
On the allegation of bias, which the Osun government had raised concerning the transfer of the case, the court held that the claim was “wholly unfounded and speculative.” Justice Nwite stated that a “mere administrative act” by the Chief Judge to transfer a case could not, by any reasonable measure, amount to judicial bias. He further noted that the plaintiff failed to produce any credible evidence to substantiate such a serious accusation against the administrative process.
The substantive hearing in the matter was subsequently adjourned until October 17 for continuation of the arguments. It was earlier disclosed during the proceedings that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had been removed from the suit as a defendant after the plaintiff applied for a discontinuation of the case against the AGF. This step was taken by the Osun Attorney-General due to the fact that a similar legal matter involving the AGF was already before the Supreme Court for determination.
