Court orders status quo as Kano Assembly clears LG caretaker committees

A Federal High Court in Kano has ordered parties to maintain the status quo in a suit to stop the appointment of interim management committees (IMCs) for the local government areas in the state.

The suit, filed by Haruna Abbas Babangida, a resident of Shanono Local Government Area of the State, also sought to stop the release of allocations to Kano State Local Government councils from the federation account based on the absence of democratically elected council chairmen.

The suit named the Kano State Governor, the State Attorney General, the Kano State House of Assembly, the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), as well as the Attorney General of the Federation and the Accountant General of the Federation as parties.

Ruling on an ex-parte motion brought together with the suit yesterday, Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman ordered that all parties in the suit should maintain status quo pending the hearing and final determination of a substantive suit.

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The judge thereafter adjourned the matter to March 14 for the hearing of the interlocutory injunctions.

Meanwhile, the ad hoc committee of the Kano State House of Assembly tasked with screening nominees for appointment as IMCs for the 44 local government councils in the state has cleared all the nominees. The committee submitted its report to the House of Assembly, stating that all the nominees were successfully cleared after a thorough screening exercise.

In a statement, the Speaker of the Assembly, Jibrin Ismail Falgore, commended the outstanding work of the committee and the efforts of all the sub-committees involved in the final screening.

The statement added that the House unanimously approved the appointment of the nominees to the local government IMCs and that the resolution would be forwarded to the state governor for the swearing-in of the members of all 44 local government councils in the state.