A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Monday dismissed a suit filed by Abdullahi Abbas of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and another person, seeking to stop statutory allocations to the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
Abbas, Aminu Aliyu-Tiga, and the APC, through their counsel Sunday Olowomoran, filed a motion ex parte dated October 28 and filed on November 1, 2024.
The respondents in the suit include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Auditor-General of the Federation, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Others are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Kano State Government, the Attorney-General of Kano, the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), and the 44 local government councils of Kano State.
The applicants sought a declaration that the 12th to 55th respondents were not democratically elected and constituted in accordance with Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
They also asked the court to restrain the Federal Government, the CBN, and the Accountant-General from disbursing statutory funds to Kano’s 44 local government councils.
Justice Simon Amobeda, in his ruling, held that although a notice of discontinuance—which should have been filed no later than 14 days after service—was submitted, a hearing date had already been fixed, citing Order 50, Rules 3, 4, and 5 of the court.
“To avoid resuscitating the case in the future, the proper order to make is to dismiss the case.
“In view of this, leave is hereby granted to the applicants to withdraw the case. The suit is hereby dismissed with no cost,” Amobeda ruled.
Earlier, while addressing the court on the propriety or otherwise of the case, counsel to the applicants, Mr. Sunday Olowomoran, speaking on behalf of the lead counsel Abdul Adamu-Fagge, SAN, made an oral application to withdraw the case.
“My Lord, this suit was appealed. The appellate court, on June 30, ruled that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the Kano State High Court is the proper court to hear it,” Olowomoran said, urging the court to strike out the case.
Counsel to the CBN and RMAFC, Mr. B. D. Uche and S. G. Ahmad, told the court that their clients were not part of the appeal at the appellate court and urged the court to dismiss the suit with costs of N1 million each.
Counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Tajudeen Abdullahi, also urged the court to dismiss the suit, rather than strike it out, and requested a cost of N2.5 million.
Counsel to the Kano State Government, Bashir Yusuf-Muhammad, urged the court to apply the principle of law by dismissing the suit with a cost of N2 billion against the plaintiffs.
Similarly, counsel to the Kano State Attorney-General, Sani Mustafa-Dauda, also urged the court to dismiss the suit with a cost of N5 million.
Counsel to KANSIEC, Ibrahim Wangida, also urged the court to dismiss the suit, not merely strike it out.
“My Lord, KANSIEC has suffered psychological and physical trauma. The office was locked for three months. We have filed processes, served documents, and incurred printing costs. We are requesting a cost of N2 million,” he said.
Counsel to the 44 local government councils, Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, also urged the court to dismiss the suit with a cost of N2 million, citing Order 50 of the court rules.
Counsel for the 44 elected local government chairmen, Mustapha Hussaini, urged the court to dismiss the suit with a cost of N44 million.
NAN reports that the court, on October 23, 2024, halted the conduct of the local government council elections scheduled for October 26, 2025, until KANSIEC is properly reconstituted, following a previous court ruling dissolving it for partisanship.
NAN
