ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-A Kano State High Court has issued a perpetual injunction, preventing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from withholding funds from the Federation Account allocated to the state’s 44 local governments.
In its ruling on Monday, the court directed the CBN to release funds to the local governments.
The motion, filed on November 1 by the Chairman of NULGE, Ibrahim Muhd, and other applicants, sought to stop the respondents from withholding or delaying vital allocations for local governance in the state.
The respondents include the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), CBN, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and several commercial banks.
Justice Ibrahim Musa-Muhammad, in delivering the judgment, affirmed that the applicants had proven their case and granted all the reliefs they sought.
The judge underscored that, based on the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s ruling in suit No SC/CV/343/2024 Attorney General of Abia State and 35 others, the AGF, CBN, and RMAFC are obligated to release monthly allocations to the 44 Local Government Areas as democratically elected councils.
He further stated that withholding these funds would infringe on the fundamental rights of the residents, as protected by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“By the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in suit No SC/CV/343/2024 Attorney General of Abia State and 35 others.
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“The Kano State Local Government Council Electoral Laws 2022, the AGF, CBN, and RMAFC are under a duty to disburse monthly allocations to the 44 LGAs as democratically elected Local Government Councils.
“A Declaration that withholding these allocations would amount to a breach of the fundamental rights of the residents, inhabitants in the 44 Local Government Councils, as guaranteed under Sections 33, 42 and 43,44, 45, and 46 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended).”
Counsel for the applicants, Bashir Yusuf-Muhammad, urged the court to reject the respondents’ counter-affidavit and grant the requested reliefs.
Counsel for the 44 Local Governments, Ibrahim Isa-Wangida, did not oppose the application, asserting that the disbursement of LG allocations should not be disrupted.
In response, the CBN’s counsel, Ganiyu Ajape, filed a preliminary objection on November 14, 2024, contending that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter and should deny the applicants’ request for relief.
Meanwhile, counsel representing United Bank of Africa, Keystone Bank, and Guarantee Trust Bank requested the court to remove their clients from the case, with substantial costs, arguing that the banks were not involved in the disbursement of Local Government allocations.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to LGAs in Nigeria, there has been a delay in the direct transfer of monthly allocations to Local Government Areas.
The CBN had instructed all local government chairmen to establish dedicated accounts for the smooth transfer of allocations starting January 2025.
Local councils in Nigeria were expected to begin receiving direct allocations from the Federation Account in January 2025, in line with the Supreme Court’s July 11 decision granting financial autonomy to local governments, but this plan has not yet come into effect as intended.