By Anthony Ochela
Court of Appeal in Abuja has fixed April 8 for hearing and determination of suits arising from the local government election in Kano State.
The Appellate Court, presided over by Justice Georgewill Ekanem, yesterday, fixed the new date after resolving several motions that accompanied the substantive matters.
However, the Kano State House of Assembly asked the Court of Appeal to void and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano which had restrained the conduct of the election since October last year.
The Assembly represented by Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, predicated his call on five major grounds.
Among others, the Assembly maintained that the Federal High Court has no jurisdiction to dabble into local government conduct in Kano State and that the suit filed by Aminu Tiga and the All Progressives Congress, APC, was statute barred at the time it was filed and that the two plaintiffs have no locus standi to have instituted the case.
Justice Simon Amobeda had on October 22, 2024 stopped the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting election for councilors and chairmen of the 44 local government councils.
Justice Amobeda in the judgment barred members of the state electoral body from conducting election on the grounds that they were established card carrying members of the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, in Kano State, contrary to Section 197 and 200 of the 1999 Constitution.
Besides, the judge directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to release any part of the national voter register to Kano State for the purpose of conducting the local government polls.
The judge had also restrained the police, Department of State Service, DSS, and other security agencies from participating and giving protection during the local government election in Kano State.
Aggrieved by the decisions of the court, the Assembly approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, praying for an order to set aside the findings and decisions of Justice Amobeda.
Their position is that the local government election is entirely the affairs of the Kano State government and that it is the State High Court that can adjudicate over any matter arising from the conduct of local government election and not the Federal High Court.
