A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has dismissed a suit filed by Abdullahi Abbas of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one other, which sought to stop statutory allocations to the 44 Local Government Areas in Kano State.
The suit, filed by Abbas, Aminu Aliyu-Tiga and the APC through their counsel, Sunday Olowomoran, was brought via a motion ex parte dated October 28 and filed on November 1, 2024.
Respondents in the case included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Accountant-General of the Federation, Minister of Finance, Auditor-General of the Federation, and Attorney-General of the Federation.
Other respondents listed were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Kano State Government, Attorney-General of Kano, Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), and the 44 local government councils in the state.
The applicants sought a declaration that the 12th to 55th respondents were not democratically elected as provided under Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). They also asked the court to restrain federal authorities from releasing statutory funds to the LGAs.
However, Justice Simon Amobeda, in his ruling, stated that although a notice of discontinuance had been filed, it came after the matter had already been assigned a hearing date. He cited Order 50 Rules 3, 4 and 5 of the court in his decision.
“To avoid resuscitating the case in the future, the proper order to make is to dismiss the case,” he ruled.
“In view of this, leave is hereby granted to the applicants to withdraw the case. The suit is hereby dismissed with no cost.”
Earlier, applicants’ counsel, Mr Sunday Olowomoran, representing lead counsel Abdul Adamu-Fagge, SAN, made an oral application to withdraw the case, citing a June 30 appellate court decision which held that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction, and that the matter rightly belonged before the Kano State High Court.
Counsel to various respondents had urged the court to dismiss the suit rather than strike it out, with several requesting heavy cost penalties.
CBN and RMAFC’s counsel, B. D. Uche and S. G. Ahmad, asked for ₦1 million in costs each.
Tajudeen Abdullahi, counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation, asked for ₦2.5 million.
Bashir Yusuf-Muhammad, representing the Kano State Government, requested ₦2 billion in costs against the plaintiffs.
Sani Mustafa-Dauda, counsel to the Kano State Attorney-General, requested ₦5 million.
Counsel to KANSIEC, Ibrahim Wangida, also asked for dismissal, citing “psychological and physical trauma” as the office was shut for three months, and requested ₦2 million in costs.
Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, appearing for the 44 local governments, asked for ₦2 million in costs under Order 50.
Mustapha Hussaini, counsel to the 44 elected LG chairmen, requested ₦44 million in costs.
StarReporters recalls that on October 23, 2024, the court had halted the conduct of local government elections scheduled for October 26, 2025, until KANSIEC was properly reconstituted, following a previous court decision which dissolved the body for alleged partisanship.
(NAN)