The High Court of the FCT, Maitama presided over by Hon Justice Muhammed Adamu Mustapha Thursday granted an injunction in favour of the Registered Trustees of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).
The verdicts was delivered on the 4th of September, 2024.
The development was sequel to an application filed to that effect on behalf of ALGON by Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers.
In his submission, the learned silk successfully argued that the said Maifata Muazu was but an impostor who was neither elected nor otherwise recognized by ALGON’s Constitution, or any of ALGON’S members or structures as its legitimate President.
While giving the verdicts, the court restrained Maifata Aminu Muazu from parading himself as the President of ALGON’S Executive Council.
The Applicant in an affidavit avered that Muazu was a pretender to the office, who had been imposed on ALGON by the erstwhile President of its Council, Mr. Alabi Kolade David, at the expiration of his tenure in March, 2024.
Alabi had himself faced legal challenges to his office having emerged from one of the Lagos State Local Government Development Centres that are not recognised under the 1999 Constitution.
In that capacity, the said affidavit in support of the application and deposed to by Mohammed Abubakar, ALGON’s Secretary, stated that Mr Maifata Muazu had misled and deceived unsuspecting members of the public (including relevant Government agencies) into believing that he was the bonafide President.
Abubakar further avered that in course of such nefarious activities, Muazu managed to smuggle himself into a 10-man inter-ministerial committee recently constituted by the Federal Government to set out modalities for the enforcement of the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on the 11th day of July 2024, which granted financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.
“The court order has thus put a stop to the activities of Muazu and his cohorts whom the affidavit avered are playing the role of moles within the said Committee and are bent on executing an unholy agenda of scuttling the immediate implementation of the said judgement of the Supreme Court in the light of the express provisions of Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution regarding the bindingness and immediate enforceability of the judgements of all the courts of the land, particularly those of the Supreme Court. Contrary to this mandatory provision, the affidavit avered that Muazu has since struck an unholy agreement with certain unnamed agents of the federal Government to defer the implementation of the said apex court judgement to the 1st of October, 2024.” he said.
