Appeal Court fixes April 8 to hear suits on disputed Kano local government elections

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has fixed April 8, for hearing and determination of suits arising from the conduct of elections in the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.

The appellate court presided over by Justice Georgewill Ekanem on Monday fixed the new date after resolving several motions on notices that accompanied the substantive matters.

However, the Kano State House of Assembly has 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 House of Assembly represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN predicated his call for the declaration of the court's judgment null and void on five major grounds.

Among others, the House of 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 one Aminu Aliyu Tiga and the All Progressives Congress (APC), was statute barred at the time it was filed and that the two plaintiffs have no locus standing to have instituted the case.

Justice Simon Amobeda had on October 22, 2024 stopped the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting any election for councillors and chairmen of the 44 Local Government Areas of the state, until conditions precedents were met as required by law.

Justice Amobeda in the judgment barred members of the state electoral body from conducting any 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 any local government election in Kano State.

Aggrieved by the decisions of the court, the Kano State House of Assembly approached the court of appeal in Abuja, praying for an order to set aside the findings and decisions of Justice Amobeda issued against them.

Their position is that the local government election conduct is entirely the affairs of the Kano State Government and that it is the Kano State High Court that can adjudicate over any matter arising from local government election conduct and not the Federal High Court