KANO: Court Declines Request To Stop Gov Yusuf From Spending LGAs Funds

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declined an application seeking to bar Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, from disbursing or spending funds and allocations belonging to the 44 Local Government Areas of the state.

The ex-parte motion was filed by the 44 LGAs and the Kano State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) on December 27.

The suit was instituted against the Kano State government, the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the Accountant General of Kano.

The plaintiffs requested an interim injunction while alleging the governor planned tampering with funds meant for the LGAs.

“An order of this Honourable Court restraining the Defendants/Respondents,whether by themselves, their officers, servants, agents, privies, cronies or representatives by whatever name known or called, from controling, 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, pending the determination of the Plaintiffs Applicants,” the applicants prayed in one of its reliefs.

In the alternative, the applicants asked the court to stop the Kano State government from tampering with the funds and allocations belonging to the forty four (44) LGAs.

But in his ruling on the exparte motion, Justice Donatus Okorowo rather ordered the defendants to appear before him and show cause why the restraining orders should not be granted.

The judge also ordered that the processes be served on the defendants by substituted means.

The matter was then adjourned to January 3 for parties to show cause.

On Friday, Governor Yusuf laid the foundation of three layer interchange bridge at Dan’agundi junction and cloverleaf overpass bridge at Tal’udu roundabout all in Kano metropolis, worth N27 billion.

In a statement signed by Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director General Media and Publicity at the Kano Government House, the governor cleared the air on the financing of projects, saying “that it has been the tradition from his predecessors to finance such gigantic projects through the joint- account managed by the State and local governments.”