A special panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja has scheduled April 8 for the definitive hearing and determination of multiple suits challenging the conduct of elections into the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
This new date was set following the resolution of all outstanding motions related to the substantive appeals by legal representatives of the involved parties.
At the appellate level, the Kano State House of Assembly, represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, is seeking to overturn the judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano, which had placed a restraining order on the LG elections since October 2024.
The House of Assembly’s application for nullification rests on five principal arguments. Foremost among these is the contention that the Federal High Court lacked the necessary jurisdiction to adjudicate on matters concerning the conduct of local government elections in Kano State.
Furthermore, the appellant, through their counsel, argued that the initial suit filed by Aminu Aliyu Tiga and the All Progressives Congress (APC) was statute-barred at the time of its commencement. The House of Assembly also asserted that the two plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to initiate the case in the first instance at the trial court. Consequently, the appellant has requested the appellate court to set aside the Federal High Court’s judgment.
It will be recalled that Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Kano had, on October 22, 2024, issued an order restraining the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) from conducting any elections for councillors and chairmen in the state’s 44 LGAs until specific legal prerequisites were met.
Justice Amobeda’s judgment cited concerns that members of KANSIEC were established card-carrying members of the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano State, which the court deemed contrary to Sections 197 and 200 of the 1999 Constitution. The Federal High Court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withhold the national voter register from Kano State for the purpose of these local government polls and restrained security agencies from participating in or providing protection for any such elections.
Aggrieved by these rulings, the Kano State House of Assembly has now turned to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, seeking a reversal of Justice Amobeda’s findings and decisions. Their central argument remains that the conduct of local government elections is an exclusive affair of the Kano State Government, and any legal challenges arising from it should be addressed by the Kano State High Court, not the Federal High Court.
