.. as court adjourns case to Oct 16 for ruling
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA– The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, AGoF, on Monday, denied allegation that Osun State Local Government allocation, which was withheld by the Federal Government, has been paid into accounts belonging to Chairmen and Councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, but sacked by the court.
At the resumed proceeding on a suit that was lodged before the Federal High Court by the Osun state government, the CBN and AGoF, who were cited as defendants, described the allegation as a mere rumour.
Counsel to the Osun state government, Mr. Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, had after the matter was called up, informed the court that funds, which constituted the subject matter of the litigation, had been unlawfully released to the APC members between Thursday and Friday.
He alleged that the action was carried out despite a subsisting order of the court that directed all the parties to maintain status quo, pending the determination of the suit.
According to the plaintiff’s lawyer, the CBN and AGoF paid the withheld funds through special accounts that were opened for the APC Chairmen and Councillors at the United Bank for Africa, UBA.
He added that upon becoming aware of telhe development, the Osun state government immediately approached a High Court in Oyo state and secured a restraining order to stop the bank from disbursing the funds to the affected persons.
He said the resort to a court in Oyo state was due to the fact that the Osun state judiciary had been on strike.
Though he claimed that the restraining order was served on the bank, CBN and the AGoF, Adetunbi, SAN, said he did not attend the court sitting with the proof of service.
Meanwhile, refuting the allegation, Mr. Murtala Abdulrasheed, SAN, and Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, who appeared for CBN and AGoF, respectively, challenged the plaintiff to adduce evidence to support the claim.
Besides, they urged the court to refuse an application the plaintiff filed for the case file to be returned back to Osogbo for hearing.
The defendants prayed the court to order accelerated hearing of the case, stressing that tenures of the embattled officials would elapse by October 22.
After he had listened to all the parties, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter till October 16 to rule on the plaintiff’s motion challenging the territorial jurisdiction of the court in Abuja to hear and determine the suit.
In the suit, Osun state had among other things, prayed the court for “an order of interim injunction, restraining the defendants from opening, operating, or maintaining local government accounts in favour of the Chairmen and Councillors who have been sacked or removed from office by a subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court.”
It also urged the court to restrain the CBN and the AGoF “from disbursing allocations to the sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors.”
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