A Kano State High Court on Wednesday reserved ruling in a suit filed by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others from withholding Kano Local Government allocations.
The applicant’s are Chairman of NULGE, Ibrahim Muhd, Ibrahim Uba Shehu, Ibrahim Shehu Abubakar, Usman Isa, Sarki Alhaji Kurawa and Malam Usman Imam.
The court had on November 6, restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and others from withholding Kano State’s 44 local governments’ allocations.
The applicant’s through their counsel, Mr Bashir Yusuf Muhammad, filed a motion exparte dated Novber 1, seeking the court to restrain the respondents from withholding or delaying allocations essential for local governance in the state.
The respondents are: the AGF, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, (RMAFC), the 44 Kano local governments, UBA, Access and six other commercial banks.
When the case came up for hearing, Yusuf Muhammad, filed a reply to the notice of preliminary objection dated November 20.
“The application is attached with four paragraph affidavit and a written address dated November 3. We filed 11 paragraph of better and further affidavit dated Nov.20 and one exhibit,” he said.
Muhammad urged the court to discountenance the respondents’ counter affidavit and grant the applicants reliefs.
Counsel for 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 for CBN, Mr Ganiyu Ajape, filed notice of preliminary objection dated November 14, 2024 pursuant to order 8 rules (1)(2) of the fundamental rights.
He urged the court to strike out the name of CBN in the suit for lacking jurisdiction to entertain the matter and not to grant the applicants relief.
Counsel for GTB, 49th respondent, Mr Faruk Asekome, filed their counter affidavit on the applicant originating motion attached with a written address.
Asekome urged the court to strike out his client’s name with a substantial cost.
“My lord, there is no reasonable cause of action disclosed against GT Bank. We don’t have any say in the disbursement of local government allocations,” he stated.
Justice Ibrahim Musa Muhammad adjourned the matter for ruling in the notice of preliminary objection and the substantive matter to a date that would be communicated to parties.
