By Kenny Folowosele, Abuja
The Supreme Court is set to deliver judgement in the local government autonomy suit instituted by the Federal Government.
The suit was brought against the 36 state governors of the federation.
The suit was filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), seeking full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.
A competent source told ThisNigeria Correspondent that all parties in the suit have been notified of the judgment date.
At the last sitting, a seven-man panel of Justices led by Justice Garba Lawal, reserved judgment in the suit and stated that parties in the suit would be notified of the judgment date after the AGF, the state Attorney-Generals or their representatives presented their cases for adjudication.
Fagbemi represented the federal government in the suit, while the 36 state governors were represented by their AG’s or Senior private lawyers who presented their arguments on the state’s behalf.
All 36 states opposed the Federal government’s suit and prayed to the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit.
The AGF in the suit asked the apex Court to grant all the reliefs sought by the Federal Government in the suit and grant the local governments’ full autonomy as the third tier of government in Nigeria as stated in the constitution.
Fagbemi prayed the apex Court to order direct allocation of funds from the federation account to the local governments.
The AGF also prayed for an order prohibiting unlawful dissolution of local government officials by the state governors and asked the Court to prohibit appointment of caretaker committees.
