By RAMATU GARBA

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano, on Monday, dismissed a suit filed by Abdullahi Abbas of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one other 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 exparte dated Oct. 28, and filed on Nov.1, 2024.

The respondents In the suit are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Accountant-General of the Federation, Minister of Finance, Auditor General of the Federation, and Attorney General of the Federation.

Others are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Kano State Government, Attorney General Kano, Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) and the 44 Kano local governments.

The applicants are seeking a declaration that the 12th to 55th respondents are not democratically elected and constituted pursuant to Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

They are also asking 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 even though a notice of discontinuance which ought to be filed not later than 14 days after service, was filed, a hearing date had 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 said.

Earlier, while addressing the court on the propriety or otherwise of the case, counsel to the applicants, Mr Sunday Olowomoran, 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, said this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the Kano State High Court is the proper court to entertain it,” Olowomoran said, urging the court to strike out the case.

Counsel to 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 a cost of N1 million each.

Counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Tajudeen Abdullahi, urged the court to dismiss the suit, not strike it out, with a cost of N2.5 million.

Counsel to 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.

Also, 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, urged the court to dismiss the suit, not strike it out.

“My Lord, KANSIEC has suffered psychological and physical trauma; the office was locked for three months. We have filed processes, services, and printing. We are asking for a cost of N2 million,” he said.

Counsel to the 44 local governments, Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, also urged the court to dismiss the suit with a cost of N2 million, citing Order 50 of the rules of the court.

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 Oct. 23, 2024, halted the conduct of the local government councils’ election scheduled for Oct. 26, 2025, until KANSIEC is properly reconstituted, as it had previously been dissolved by the court for partisanship. (NAN)