The Kano State High Court on Monday ruled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must stop withholding funds from the Federation Account intended for the 44 local government areas in Kano.
The case was filed by the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Ibrahim Muhd, and others in November 2024.
They requested the court to prevent delays or withholding of vital funds for local governments.
The defendants included the Accountant-General of the Federation, CBN, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and several banks.
The delay in transferring the allocations had followed a Supreme Court ruling in July 2024, which granted local governments financial autonomy.
In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim Musa-Muhammad affirmed that withholding the allocations violated the rights of the residents in the affected councils. The court’s decision requires the CBN and other relevant bodies to release the funds as per the constitution.
The applicants had argued that blocking these allocations was unconstitutional and harmful to local governance, while some respondents had tried to have their names removed from the case, claiming no involvement in the allocation process.
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