A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has dismissed a suit filed by Abdullahi Abbas, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and one other person, seeking to stop the disbursement of statutory allocations to the 44 Local Government Areas of 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.
This was conveyed in a statement issued by the court today, following the ruling of Justice Simon Amobeda.
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The respondents in the suit include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Accountant-General of the Federation, Minister of Finance, Auditor-General of the Federation, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Others listed as respondents were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Kano State Government, Attorney-General of Kano State, Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), and the 44 local governments in Kano State.
The plaintiffs had asked the court to declare that the 12th to 55th respondents were not democratically elected, as required under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). They also sought an order restraining the Federal Government, CBN, and the Accountant-General from releasing statutory funds to the Kano LGAs.
In his ruling, Justice Amobeda cited Order 50 Rules 3, 4, and 5 of the court, noting that although a notice of discontinuance was filed, it came after a hearing date had been fixed.
“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,” the judge ruled.
Earlier, applicants’ counsel, Sunday Olowomoran, on behalf of lead counsel Abdul Adamu-Fagge, SAN, made an oral application to withdraw the suit, informing the court that the matter had already been appealed and the appellate court ruled on June 30 that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction, directing the matter to the Kano State High Court.
In their responses, various counsels to the respondents urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs.
Counsel to the CBN and RMAFC, B. D. Uche and S. G. Ahmad, demanded N1 million each in costs. Counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Tajudeen Abdullahi, sought N2.5 million in costs. Bashir Yusuf-Muhammad, representing the Kano State Government, requested N2 billion, while Kano Attorney-General’s counsel, Sani Mustafa-Dauda, demanded N5 million.
Counsel to KANSIEC, Ibrahim Wangida, urged the court to dismiss the suit, not strike it out, stating that the commission suffered “psychological and physical trauma” during the case. He requested N2 million in costs.
Counsel to the 44 LGAs, Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, also sought N2 million, while counsel for the 44 elected LG chairmen, Mustapha Hussaini, demanded N44 million in damages.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on October 23, 2024, the same court halted the conduct of Kano local government elections earlier scheduled for October 26, 2025, until KANSIEC is properly reconstituted, following a prior court ruling that dissolved the commission for partisanship.
