Court Reserves Date For Ruling On Kano LG Funds Allocation

A Kano State High Court has reserved a date to rule on a suit filed by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to stop the Central Bank of Nigeria and others from withholding allocations meant for Kano Local Governments.

The court restrained the CBN, AGF, and others from withholding Kano State 44 Local Government allocations on November 6.

The applicants are the Chairman of NULGE, Ibrahim Muhd, Ibrahim Uba Shehu, Ibrahim Shehu Abubakar, Usman Isa, Sarki Alhaji Kurawa, and Malam Usman Imam. The respondents include the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission(RMAFC), the 44 Kano Local Government, UBA, Access, and six other commercial banks.

Through their counsel, Mr Bashir Yusuf, the applicant filed a motion exparte dated Nov.1, seeking the court to restrain the respondents from withholding or delaying allocations meant for local governance in the State.

When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, Mr Yusuf filed a reply to the notice of preliminary objection dated Nov.20 and further urged the court to discount the respondent’s counter-affidavit and grant the applicant relief.

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Counsel to the 44 Local Governments, Mr Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, did not oppose the plaintiff’s application, adding that the disbursement of LG allocations should not be truncated.

Responding, Counsel to CBN, Mr Ganiyu Ajape, filed a notice of preliminary objection dated Nov.14, 2024, under order eight, therefore, rules (1) (2) of the fundamental rights.

He said they had filed their reaction and six-paragraph counter affidavit dated November 14; therefore, he urged the court to strike out CBN’s name in the suit for lacking jurisdiction to entertain the matter and not grant the applicant’s relief.

Counsel to Guarantee Trust Bank, 49th respondent, Mr Faruk Asekome, filed their counter affidavit dated November 18 on the applicant originating motion attached with a written address.

Asekome urged the court to strike out his client’s name at a substantial cost, noting that they don’t have any say in the disbursement of local government allocations.

Meanwhile, Justice Ibrahim Musa-Muhammad adjourned the matter for ruling in the notice of preliminary objection and the substantive matter to a date that will be communicated to the parties.