The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Thursday, May 30, 2024 ordered the 36 state governors to file their respective defenses to a suit instituted against them by the Federal Government seeking full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.
Justice Garba Lawal issued the order while ruling on an application for abridgement of time argued by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagebemi, SAN. The court ordered the AGF to file his reply within two days upon receipt of the governors’ defense.
The AGF had requested the court to compel the governors to file their responses within five days due to the urgency and importance of the suit. Although the governors did not object to time abridgement, they requested 15 days to file their defense.
Justice Lawal, leading a seven-man panel of justices, reduced the time for filing based on the national importance and urgency of the suit and the non-objection from the states. The Supreme Court held that filing and exchanging of all processes must be completed within the specified time.
The court fixed June 13 for the hearing of the suit and ordered that the eight states whose Attorneys General were absent in court be served with fresh hearing notices. These states include Borno, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Sokoto.
