The Osun State Government has filed a notice to withdraw its suit against the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant-General of the Federation over withheld local government allocations, claiming the funds have been moved from the apex bank despite a pending court order.
Musibau Adetumbi, SAN, counsel to the state government, informed Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday that the case had been “overtaken by event.”
“On September 29, 2025, when the matter was heard, I told the court that our primary aim was to safeguard the money,” Adetumbi told the court. “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.”
The suit, initially filed by the Osun Attorney-General on behalf of the state government, sought to prevent the Federal Government from releasing withheld local government allocations to former chairmen and councillors who were elected during ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s tenure but later sacked.
The state’s counsel said the notice of discontinuance was filed pursuant to Order 51 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules, adding that any further arguments would amount to “an academic exercise.”
However, the application sparked heated objections from the defendants’ legal teams over claims made in an affidavit of facts attached to the notice.
Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, representing the CBN, said the plaintiff made “damaging depositions” in the affidavit that should be withdrawn alongside the notice of discontinuance.
“Somebody can approach the court any day with a request for a Certified True Copy of the process and may decide to use it against the persons mentioned in the plaintiff’s affidavit of facts,” Abdulrasheed stated.
He argued that the grounds for discontinuance were in “bad faith,” disputing the plaintiff’s claim that the CBN had no competent response to the originating summons. He said a 12-paragraph counter-affidavit had been filed on behalf of his client in May.
Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, counsel to the Accountant-General of the Federation, whilst not opposing the withdrawal, challenged the grounds upon which the application was based.
“The plaintiff is not under any obligation to predicate his application on any ground,” Oladoja said, urging the court to strike out certain grounds in the notice, particularly those alleging that money had been paid without giving his client opportunity to respond.
Oladoja also demanded a cost of N10 million against the plaintiff “for bringing the 2nd defendant to court, for the court processes filed in the matter, and for wasting the precious judicial time of the court.”
In response, Adetumbi maintained that a notice of discontinuance under the relevant court rules does not attract cost, arguing that the defendants had failed to file their processes on time.
“It is their default to have filed their process out of time. They cannot approach the court to ask for cost or expunging any of the grounds in the notice of discontinuance,” he said.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until October 29 for ruling on the plaintiff’s application for discontinuance and the defendants’ counter-applications.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the judge had, in a ruling on Thursday, dismissed objections raised by the CBN and the AGF against the suit, holding that the state’s Attorney-General had the legal right to file the suit on behalf of the local government authorities.
The case is one of several legal battles surrounding local government allocations following recent reforms in the disbursement of funds to grassroots administrations.
