A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Monday dismissed a suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and two of its members, Abdullahi Abbas and Aminu Aliyu-Tiga, seeking to halt statutory allocations to the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.

The court, presided over by Justice Simon Amobeda, ruled that the suit had become untenable following the applicants’ oral motion to withdraw, noting that a hearing date had already been fixed.

He therefore opted to dismiss the case entirely instead of striking it out.

“To avoid resuscitating the case in the future, the proper order to make is to dismiss the case. The suit is hereby dismissed with no cost,” Justice Amobeda ruled.

The APC, through their counsel Sunday Olowomoran, had filed the motion ex parte dated October 28, 2024, and filed on November 1, 2024, targeting several federal and state entities.

The respondents in the suit included:

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)
Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC)
Accountant-General of the Federation
Minister of Finance
Auditor General of the Federation
Attorney General of the Federation
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)
Kano State Government
Kano State Attorney General
Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC)
All 44 Local Government Councils in Kano

Naijaonpoint reports that the applicants contended that the current local council executives were not democratically elected in accordance with Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and as such, should not benefit from federal allocations.

While addressing the court on the propriety of continuing the suit, Olowomoran explained that the Court of Appeal had ruled on June 30 that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction in the matter, and that the appropriate forum was the Kano State High Court.

“My Lord, this suit was appealed. The appellate court said this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the Kano State High Court is the proper court,” Olowomoran submitted, urging the judge to strike out the case.

Several of the respondents, however, strongly opposed striking out the matter, instead urging the court to dismiss the suit and impose significant costs on the plaintiffs.

Counsel to CBN and RMAFC, Messrs B.D. Uche and S.G. Ahmad demanded ₦1 million each in costs.

Counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation, Tajudeen Abdullahi, demanded ₦2.5 million in costs.

Counsel to the Kano State Government, Bashir Yusuf-Muhammad, urged the court to award ₦2 billion in damages.

Counsel to the Kano Attorney-General, Sani Mustafa-Dauda, sought ₦5 million while Counsel to KANSIEC, Ibrahim Wangida, pleaded for ₦2 million, citing “psychological and physical trauma” suffered by the commission, including a three-month office lockdown.

Representing the 44 LGAs, Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, cited Order 50 of the court’s rules and demanded ₦2 million.

Counsel to the 44 elected LG Chairmen, Mustapha Hussaini, asked for a ₦44 million cost award.

It will be recalled that the court had on October 23, 2024, stopped the planned conduct of the October 26, 2025, local government elections, ruling that KANSIEC must be properly reconstituted due to earlier findings of partisanship.