NEWS
Court Gives Kano State Govt 7 Days to Respond to Claims by 44 LGAs
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, gave Kano State government seven-day ultimatum to show cause why the ex-parte orders sought by the 44 local government areas (LGAs) of the state should not be granted.
Justice Donatus Okorowo gave the order, in a ruling, shortly after counsel for the plaintiffs and lawyers to the defendants presented their arguments for and against the application.
Reports says that Justice Okorowo had, on Dec.
28, 2023, declined to grant the application seeking to bar Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State from disbursing or spending funds and allocations belonging to the 44 LGGs.The judge, rather, ordered the defendants to appear before him on Jan.
3 to show cause why the restraining orders should not be granted.He equally granted the plaintiffs’ plea for an order of substituted service on the defendants.
NAN reports that the ex-parte motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1733/2023, was filed by the 44 LGAs and the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Kano State Chapter on Dec. 27, 2023.
In the suit, Kano State government, the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the state’s Accountant-General were sued as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively
They had prayed the court for an order restraining the defendants/respondents from controling, managing, further administering, disbursing and spending the funds and allocations belonging to the 44 LGAs of Kano State in the Kano State Joint Local Account, pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiffs’ substantive suit.
Upon resumed hearing on Wednesday, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Ibrahim Nasarawa, informed the court that the matter was adjourned for the defendants to show cause why the interim orders should not be granted.
Nasarawa said the defendants were served in line with the court order but they had failed to file their processes to show cause within the three days prescribed by rule of the court.
The lawyer, therefore, prayed the court to grant the orders sought in their ex-parte motion in accordance with Order 26, Rule 11 of the FHC.
But Hafeez Matanmi, who appeared for the 1st and 2nd defendants, disagreed with Nasarawa’s submission.
He told the court that he was only briefed the previous day (Tuesday) by his clients and had filed a memorandum of conditional appearance today (Wednesday).
Matanmi, who said that Nasarawa was served with the application earlier in the morning, stated that he was yet to see all the plaintiffs’ processes in the matter
He argued that he could not have put up a defence in the case without seeing the processes filed, including the motion on notice and the orders.
He said there is no way he can show cause without seeing all the processes including the motion on notice as well as the orders.
Matanmi also argued that the rules of the court cited by Nasarawa did not specify the number of days to show cause, urging the court to adjourn the matter for them to respond accordingly.
Besides, he argued that even if he had three days to show cause, his clients were still within time to respond due to the public holidays.
3rd defendant’s lawyer, Okechukwu Edeze, aligned himself with Matanmi’s submission, while informing the court about his memorandum of conditional appearance.
Edeze, who said he was briefed about the case less than 24 hours ago, sought for an adjournment in the interest of fair hearing.
“I have not seen the processes of this court. Only God knows the truth,” Edaeze said.
But Nasarawa countered them, insisting that they had been duly served.
“If they chose not to (show cause), it is to their detriment,” Nasarawa said, urging the court to discountenance their arguments.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Okorowo held that though records showed that the defendants were duly served with the processes on Dec. 29, 2023, he agreed with defence counsel that the three-day timeframe outlined for the defendants to respond was affected by public holidays.
The judge also held that the memorandum of conditional appearance by the respondents suggested they planned to challenge the suit.
He said though Order 26, Rule 11 gave a time frame which should not be less than three days for defendants to respond, he observed that by Order 26, Rule 15 of the court, the court was empowered to either discharge the order or made order absolute or modify the earlier order made.
According to him, the provision gives the court the discretion to vary or extend the order.
Justice Okorowo consequently gave the defendants seven days to show cause why the ex-parte orders should not be granted.
He adjourned the matter until Jan. 11 for hearing of the matter.(NAN)
NEWS
Kogi Govt Gives 14-day Ultimatum to Illegal Occupants of Confluence Stadium to Quit
The state Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Monday Anyebe, gave the directive when he led a team to assess the extent of vandalism in the stadium in Lokoja.
Anyebe said the team was in the stadium to assess the extent of vandalism by criminal elements who had carted away some equipment at the stadium.
He expressed concern over the level of vandalism, describing it as ‘worrisome’ and vowed that government would do everything possible to bring perpetrators of the heinous crime to book.
The commissioner, therefore ordered all the illegal occupants to vacate the premises within 14 days, after which they would be forcefully evicted and arrested for prosecution.
He also warned that the government would not allow miscreants to turn the stadium complex into harbouring criminal elements and vandalizing the sports facilities.
“All illegal occupants within the premises and the immediate perimeter fence of the stadium should heed the directive to vacate the premises within 14 days.
“Gov. Ahmed Ododo will not condone any act of criminality in the state; anyone caught will face the full wrath of the law,” Anyebe warned.
Anyebe further disclosed that plans were ongoing to renovate the stadium to a world standard for easy sporting activities in the state.
He, therefore implored the perpetrators to desist from causing set back for the government in its quest to develop the state.
The commissioner stressed that adequate measures were being put in place to safeguard the sports facilities.
Reports says that after assessing the stadium, the commissioner visited the State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
He intimated the NSCDC Command of the development and stressed the need for collaboration with the ministry towards providing adequate security for the stadium.
Anyebe appealed to the Command to work collectively with his office in ensuring that personnel of the Corps were posted to the facility to avoid recurrent vandalisation.
In his remarks, the Deputy Commandant, Bala Bodinga, on behalf of the state’s NSCDC Commandant, Paul Igwebuike, commended the commissioner and his encourage for the visit.
He described the visit as timely and assured the commissioner of the NSCDC collaboration to ensure the safety of facilities at the Stadium complex. (NAN)
NEWS
MPC: Ex-CBN Director Predicts Increase in lending Rate
Dr Titus Okunronmu, former Director of Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has predicted an increase in the lending rate from its current 24.75 by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Okunronmu gave the prediction in an interview on Monday in Ota, Ogun.
Reports says that financial expert spoke against the backdrop of the MPC meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
He stated that the lending rate would be raised by MPC, as CBN might not want to force it down, adding that until the inflation rate came down, the lending rate would continue to go up.
“It is at the same level of inflation that CBN will net or fix the lending rate,” he said.
According to the former CBN director, the higher the inflation rate, the less profit commercial banks will record. (NAN)
Foreign News
Iran to Hold Memorial Services for Raisi on Tuesday
Memorial ceremonies for President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian are planned in Iran for Tuesday.
Raisi, Amirabdollahian and seven senior Iranian officials died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Local media reported that a ceremony is being planned in the provincial capital of Tabriz in the morning, followed by a ceremony in the religious stronghold and pilgrimage city of Qom.
The date for the funerals of the two statesmen has not yet been announced.
Raisi is to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad.
The helicopter crashed in dense fog on the mountains over East Azerbaijan Province while the deceased were travelling back from a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
(dpa/NAN)