The judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Garba Lawal has reserved judgment in the suit by the Federal Government against the 36 state governors seeking full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.
The judge told the parties in the matter that they would be communicated once the judgment is ready.
He announced the reservation of the judgment after a 7-man panel of the apex court had adopted processes filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on behalf of the Federal Government and those of the 36 state governors.
At Thursday’s proceedings, the AGF asked the court to grant all the reliefs sought by the Federal Government in the suit.
The governors, through their respective state Attorneys General and Commissioner for Justice, however, opposed the request of the Federal Government and asked the court to dismiss the suit.
Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had on behalf of The Federal Government, initiated the legal action against the governors, primarily seeking full autonomy for local governments as three tiers of government in the country.
The AGF is praying the apex court for an order restraining state governors from unilaterally, and unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government leaders, among others.
