Judiciary
IN a very decisive intervention, the High Court of the FCT, Maitama presided over by Hon Justice Muhammed Adamu Mustapha, today, the 4th day of September, 2024, granted an injunction in favour of the Registered Trustees of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in which it restrained one Maifata Aminu Muazu from continuing to parade himself as the President of ALGON’S Executive Council. This was sequel to an application filed to that effect on behalf of ALGON by Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers, in which it 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 it’s legitimate President. The facts presented to the court show that Muazu was a pretender to the office of ALGON ‘s President 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 challenge to his office having emerged from one of Lagos State Local Government Development Centre that is not recognised under the 1999 Constitution.
In that capacity, the affidavit in support of the application and deposed to by Mohammed Abubakar, ALGON’s Secretary, state that Mr. Maifata Muazu had misled and deceived unsuspecting members of the public (including relevant Government agencies) into believing that he was the bona fide President of Algon. In the course of such nefarious activities, Mr. Muazu managed to smuggle himself into the 10-man inter-ministerial committee recently constituted by the Federal Government to set out the 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 order has thus put a stop to the activities of Muazu and his cohorts who are reportedly playing the role of moles within that Committee and are bent on executing an unholy agenda of scuttling the immediate implementation of the said judgement of the Supreme Court (as it should be) given the express provisions of Section 287 of the Constitution on the bindingness and immediate enforceability of the judgements of all the courts of the land, particularly of the Supreme Court. Contrary to this mandatory provision, we understand that Muazu has struck an ignoble agreement with certain agents of the Federal Government to defer the implementation of the said judgement of the apex court to the 1st day of October, 2024.
Accordingly, the order just delivered by Hon. Justice Mohammed Mustapha must be welcomed by all lovers of constitutional democracy particularly advocates of the strengthening of local governments as an effective third tier of government. Under no circumstances must the likes of Mr. Muazu be allowed to frustrate the realization of this noble objective which the apex court recently gave it’s imprimatur or stamp of approval.
A.I
Sept. 6, 2024
Tags: Muhammed Adamu Mustapha
