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Court fixes date to hear suit on Osun LG withheld funds on September 29
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By Prosper Olayiwola
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja, has fixed September 29 for hearing of a motion by the Osun state Government, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear a suit against withheld local government funds.
At the resumed hearing, the state government insisted that since the vacation of the court came to an end on September 16, the case should be transferred back to Osogbo for appropriate hearing and determination of the suit.
Its motion challenging the jurisdiction of the Abuja Division of the Court was predicated on two grounds which includes that the authorization granted the Attorney General of the Federation, for the matter to be heard during vacation in Abuja, had been overtaken on the ground that the vacation has come to an end.
The motion filed by the lead counsel to the state government, Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, also challenged the validity of a purported letter from the office of the Chief Judge of the court mandating Justice Emeka Nwite to substantively determine the suit in Abuja.
The grouse of Adetumbi against the letter is that it was signed by a person who claimed to be Personal Assistant to the Personal Assistant of the Chief Judge.
Adetunbi contended that the Personal Assistant to the Personal Assistant of the Chief Judge is “a busy body” and a person unknown to law to sign such a sensitive document.
Insisting that the integrity of the letter is in doubt, the senior lawyer pleaded with Justice Nwite to first, determine the validity of the letter before proceeding to the substantive matter.
However, counsel to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN, and that of the Accountant General of the Federation, Tajudeen Oladoja, SAN, challenged the application of the state government, alleging that it was a ploy to delay the expeditious hearing of the matter.
The two senior lawyers told the court that the tenure of the elected APC Chairmen and Councilors will come to an end on October 22 and as such, their case will become academic if not expeditiously heard.
After taking arguments from the parties, Justice Nwite fixed September 29 to hear the application by the Osun state government and any other that borders on the jurisdiction first before proceeding to any other one.
Earlier, the Judge struck out the name of the AGF, who was the 3rd defendant in the suit following the discontinuance of the matter against him by the plaintiff.
Counsel to the state government said the matter was discontinued against the AGF as another suit against him is pending before the Supreme Court.
The suit filed by the Attorney General of Osun state, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, on behalf of the state government is seeking to restrain the CBN from opening accounts for the chairmen elected on the platform of the APC in 2022 whom the state government affirmed have been sacked by the same Federal High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
The suit, which was filed on behalf of Osun State by the state Attorney General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, seeks to restrain the CBN and the AGF from opening and maintaining accounts for the local government chairmen elected in October 2022 under the APC.
The chairmen in question were elected in an election that only featured candidates from the APC.
Specifically, the plaintiff wants “an 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.”
Another relief seeks to restrain the CBN and Accountant General of the Federation from disbursing allocations to the sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors.
A witness in the trial of former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai on the alleged wiretapping the telephone lines of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has admitted that El-Rufai confirmed the wiretapping remarks during a television interview.
The Department of security service (DSS) witness, Barrister Deji Adeyanju told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday that he appeared for an interview program on Arise Television Station on February 16, the same day El-Rufai made the confession on the same television.
Adeyanju, the second prosecution witness in the trial, told the Court that the former governor admitted during the television interview that “we listened to the conversations of the NSA.”
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, Adeyanju confirmed that he knew El-Rufai as a former governor of Kaduna State and recalled issuing a public statement after reports emerged that the former governor was to be arrested by security operatives.
The prosecution tendered the subpoena used to summon Adeyanju, which was admitted and marked as Exhibit G.
The court also viewed the Arise Television interview involving El-Rufai, after which Adeyanju confirmed the recording and the statements allegedly made during the programme.
The prosecution subsequently tendered Adeyanju’s own interview contained in a flash drive alongside a certificate of compliance. Both were admitted in evidence as Exhibits H and H1.
While giving evidence, Adeyanju told the court that he was later invited by the Department of State Services, DSS, where he was asked to recount what transpired at the television studio.
According to him, he confirmed to investigators that he was present when El-Rufai made the statements on air and that when further questioned during the interview, the former governor stated that someone carried out the phone tapping and passed the information to him.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Paul Erokoro, Adeyanju stated that while he did not hear El-Rufai specifically say he hacked the phone lines of the National Security Adviser, NSA, he heard him say, “we listened to the conversations of the NSA.”
When asked whether he knew the means through which the NSA makes calls, and if he would be surprised to learn that DSS investigators did not ask the NSA which of his devices was allegedly compromised, he replied that those were not his business.
Meanwhile, the prosecution tendered an official gazette without objection from the defence. The document was admitted and marked as Exhibit I.
The matter was adjourned until June 23 for continuation of trial.
The DSS had filed a charge against El-Rufai over his alleged involvement in wiretapping the telephone lines of the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
In the three-count charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026 was filed early before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the secret police accused the former governor of breaching the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act, (2024), and the Nigerian Communications Act (2003.)
Counts in the charge read:
*That you, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, adult, male, on 13th February, 2026, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this court, did admit during the interview that you and your cohorts unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment, Act, 2024.
*That you, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, adult, male, on 13t February, 2026, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this court, did state during the interview that you know and relate with certain individual, who unlawfully intercepted the Phone Communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, without reporting the said individual to relevant Security agencies and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 27 (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment, Act, 2024.
*That you, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, adult, male, and other still at large, sometime in 2026, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this court, with others still at large did use technical equipment or systems which compromised public safety, national security and instilling reasonable apprehension of insecurity among Nigerians by unlawfully intercepting the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to which you admitted during an interview on 13th February, 2026, on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 131(2) Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
Former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, was at the Lagos office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, today in connection with an ongoing investigation into allegations of illegal diversion of about ₦1.3 trillion.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, was not available for comments on the issue, but a source within the commission who did not want to be named told Channels Television that the former governor is being investigated for alleged diversion of 13 per cent derivation funds accrued to Delta State from the Federation Account between 2015 and 2023.
The former governor was previously arrested on November 4, 2024, and questioned by operatives of the EFCC at its Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate over the allegations.
He reportedly showed up at the Lagos office today, in a bid to secure the release of his passport to enable him to travel abroad for medical treatment.
As of the time of this report, it was unclear whether his request was granted by the anti-graft agency.
As the Malawian government moves to evacuate its citizens from South Africa following renewed xenophobic attacks, Nigerians caught in the unrest have expressed frustration over what they describe as a lack of support from their home country.
Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in Gauteng, South Africa, Ikye Okwuakwu, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene and assist Nigerians affected by the crisis.
Speaking amid reports that thousands of foreign nationals have been displaced and are currently sheltering in temporary camps, Okwuakwu questioned Nigeria’s response to the situation.
“Malawi is taking its people home. What is Nigeria doing for its own citizens?” he asked.
He urged the Federal Government to take immediate steps to protect and support Nigerians stranded in South Africa, warning that many are facing uncertainty and hardship as tensions persist in affected communities.
The appeal comes as concerns continue to grow over the welfare and safety of foreign nationals impacted by the wave of xenophobic violence in parts of South Africa.
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