The Kano State government, the Attorney General, the Commissioner for Justice, and the Accountant General of Kano were sued on December 27, 2023. The plaintiffs requested an interim injunction prohibiting the defendants from manipulating or using funds that belong to both the state and the LGs going forward.
The LGs had initiated the matter in response to the N27 billion contract for the Dan'Agundi Interchange Bridge and the Tal'udu Cloverleaf Overpass Bridge, which were financed by the Local and State Government Joint Account.
The Local Government Areas (LGs) requested an order from the Honourable Court to prohibit the Respondents and Defendants from controlling, managing, further administering, disbursing, and spending the funds and allocations belonging to the forty-four (44) Local Government Areas of Kano State in the Kano State Joint Local Account. This order would be in place until the Plaintiffs Applicant is determined.
The defendants were asked to appear before Justice Donatus Okorowo on Wednesday, March 3, 2024, to provide justification for why the temporary restraining orders should not be granted, even if the court declined to grant the application as pled. Additionally, the judgment mandated that the defendants receive the processes through an alternative method.
Afeez Matanmi, the state government's attorney for Kano, promised an extra period during yesterday's resumed hearing so he could have time to review the brief and provide a suitable response.
Matanmi stated before the court that he received his client's brief only on Tuesday and that he served the plaintiff's attorney with a memorandum of conditional presence while in the court.
The rules of the court did not specify the number of days to show cause, he added, and even if the court had done that, it would still be within its discretion to extend time. He stated that there is no way he can show cause without seeing all the processes, including the motion on notice as well as the orders.
On his part, Okechukwu Edeze, the attorney general, commissioner of justice, and accountant general of Kano state, acknowledged that he was also served with the document requesting a conditional appearance in court on Wednesday morning.
Edeze, who claimed to have been briefed less than 24 hours prior, allied himself with the Kano state government counsel's arguments and requested an additional adjournment in the interest of a fair hearing.
Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa, the plaintiffs' attorney, countered by stating that the defendants were required by the court's order to provide justification for why the temporary order should not be granted today.
According to Nasarawa, the defendants had three days following delivery to provide justification in accordance with Order 26 Rule 11 of the Federal High Court Rules, but they haven't done so. He asked the court to impose a stay on the Kano state government while his lawsuit was being decided.
In response to the attorneys' argument, Justice Okorowo ruled that documents demonstrated that the defendants had received proper service of process on December 29, 2023, and that the respondents' memorandum of conditional appearance indicated that they intended to contest the lawsuit.
However, the presiding Judge noted that public holidays had an impact on the defendants' ability to answer within the allotted three days.
As a result, the Court gave the Kano State Government and the other two defendants an additional seven days to provide justification for not granting the Plaintiff's application.
The court postponed the next hearing until January 11, 2024.