By Ayo Kehinde
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), on Monday, denied allegations that they quietly disbursed withheld local government allocations in Osun State to outgoing officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The swift rebuttal before the Federal High Court in Abuja followed allegation by counsel to the Osun State Government, Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, who accused the two federal agencies of flouting a subsisting order by moving funds into special bank accounts for APC-controlled councils between Thursday and Friday, last week.
Contending that the move was designed to give financial advantage to APC chairmen and councillors, whose tenure ends later in October, Adetunbi warned that such actions, if allowed to stand, would undermine the rule of law and tilt the balance of power in the state’s fragile local government administration.
Both federal agencies, however, pushed back through their legal teams, describing the claim as “speculative and unproven”. They insisted no such payments were made and urged the court to discountenance what they termed an attempt to sway proceedings with political sentiments.
The dispute also reignited a jurisdictional tussle. While the Osun government pressed for the case to be returned to Osogbo, the federal agencies insisted the transfer to Abuja was valid, stressing that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court acted within his powers.
Justice Emeka Nwite, after hearing arguments, fixed October 16 for ruling on the jurisdictional issue, leaving both sides to await a decision that could shape the next phase of the legal battle.
