The supreme court of the federal republic of Nigeria has reserved judgement on the suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on behalf of the federal government seeking to extricate local governments from the states and secure full autonomy for all 774 of them in the country.
In its ruling on Thursday, a seven-man panel of the court, led by Justice Garba Lawal, reserved the matter for judgement after the governors of the 36 states, through their respective attorney-generals, adopted their briefs of argument.
The states, in separate preliminary objections, sought the dismissal of the suit with substantial costs. They argued that the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, who initiated the action on behalf of the government, lacked the locus standi to do so.
Furthermore, the states alleged that the AGF breached their right to a fair hearing by failing to serve them with a copy of a further affidavit filed in support of the suit. Additionally, some states contended that they already have democratically elected local government officials in place and insisted that the suit by the FG amounted to an abuse of the judicial process.
After hearing from all parties, the Justice Lawal-led panel stated it would communicate the judgement date to them.
The federal government, in the suit, prayed the supreme court to grant full autonomy to all local governments, recognizing them as the third tier of government.
The AGF is seeking an order of the apex court restraining state governors from unilaterally, and unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government leaders, among others.
