KANO: Again, 44 LGAs Fail To Stop Gov Yusuf From Spending Funds

The court had on Friday refused to stop Yusuf from disbursing funds belonging to the LGAs.

The ex-parte motion was filed by the 44 LGAs and the Kano State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) on December 27.

The suit was instituted against the Kano State government, the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the Accountant General of Kano.

The plaintiffs requested an interim injunction while alleging the governor planned tampering with funds meant for the LGAs.

The LGA chairmen, who are largely from the All Progressives Congress(APC), accused the governor of disbursing LGA funds without their knowledge.

In the alternative, the applicants asked the court to stop the Kano State government from tampering with the funds and allocations belonging to the forty four (44) LGAs.

But in his ruling on the ex parte motion, Justice Donatus Okorowo rather ordered the defendants to appear before him on Wednesday and show cause why the interim restraining orders should not be granted.

The judge also ordered that the processes be served on the defendants by substituted means.

At the resumed proceedings on Wednesday, the plaintiff’s counsel, Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa said pursuant to the order of court, the defendants were directed to show cause why the interim order should not be granted today.

He humbly urged the court to restrain the Kano state government pending the determination of his case.

For Afeez Matanmi, counsel for the first and second respondent, he told the court he was briefed yesterday by his client and has entered a memorandum of conditional appearance today while serving it on the plaintiff’s counsel this morning.

He explained he also filed to the registrar of the court for the certified true copies of all the processes in the matter.

“The rules of the court did not specify the number of days to show cause and in this circumstance, the court can extend time for us and adjourn the proceedings,” Mantami said.

Moreso, he contended that even if he had three days to show cause, his clients were still within time to respond due to the public holidays.

Counsels for plaintiff and the third respondent, Okechukwu Edeze confirmed they were served with the memo for conditional appearance this morning.

Edeze aligned with the arguments of the Kano state government counsel and sought for a further adjournment in the interest of fair hearing saying he was briefed less than 24 hours ago.

“I have not seen the processes of this court. Only God knows the truth,” Edaeze said.

Nasarawa countered them, insisting they have been duly served.

He argued that they were expected to give account of the processes having been served by substituted means.

“If they chose not to (show cause), it is to their detriment,” Nasarawa said.

After hearing counsels, Justice Okorowo held that records showed that the defendants were duly served with the processes on December 29, 2023 and the memorandum of conditional appearance by the respondents suggests they planned challenging the suit.

The judge, however, observed that the three-day time frame outlined for the defendants to respond was affected by public holidays.

“The respondents have shown that their time is still running (due to the public holidays), adding “With this in view, it will serve the interest of justice to extend” the orders he had earlier made.

“Respondents are given seven days to show cause why the orders sought in reliefs 5 to 7 should not be made absolute,” the judge said.

The court then adjourned to January 11 for the Kano state government to show cause.