The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in the case seeking full autonomy for Nigeria’s 774 local governments.
All 36 states of the federation are named as defendants in the suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024.
The Federal Government is also requesting an order to prevent governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected councils.
The case, initiated via an originating summons dated and filed on 20 May 2024, was heard in court on Thursday. During the session, all the states, represented by their attorneys-general and legal representatives, adopted their respective submissions and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
Some states argued that they were being denied a fair hearing, stating that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had failed to serve them with the process of his further affidavits filed on 10 June.
In his submission, Lateef Fagbemi, the AGF, requested the court to dismiss all preliminary objections raised by the states and to grant the originating summons.
“I adopt and rely on these processes. I urge my lords to overrule the various objections and grant the originating summons,” the AGF stated.
The AGF further noted that copies of the affidavits had been sent to the defendants via WhatsApp and email. He also mentioned that the court bailiff had served the defendants.
After hearing the submissions from the lawyers involved in the case, a seven-member panel of justices, led by Garba Lawal, indicated that the date for the judgement will be communicated to the parties in due course.
