The Supreme Court has scheduled June 13 to hear a suit filed by the Federal Government against the 36 state governors over alleged misconduct in managing local government affairs.
Justice Garba Lawal set the date while ruling on an application for abridgment of time, argued by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to allow all parties sufficient time to file and exchange their documents.
He ordered the 36 state governors to file their defenses in the suit brought by the federal government, which seeks full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.
Justice Lawal, leading a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, stated that the court’s decision was based on the national urgency of the case and the lack of objection from the states’ attorneys general.
The Supreme Court also directed the Attorney General of the Federation to file his reply within two days after receiving the governors’ defenses.
He ordered that the eight states not present at Thursday’s proceedings must be served with a fresh hearing notice.
The eight states—Borno, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Sokoto—had their attorneys general absent in court, despite being previously served with a hearing notice.
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