TheCable

A federal high court in Abuja has fixed April 30 for judgment in a suit over the leadership dispute within the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

Inyang Ekwo, presiding judge, fixed judgment after parties in the suit adopted their final briefs of argument on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs, Incorporated Trustees of ALGON, Abubakar Abdullahi and Shaban Shuaib, are challenging the legality of Alabi David’s position as the national president of ALGON.

According to the plaintiffs, David is not constitutionally qualified to hold any position in ALGON, being a chairman of Bariga Local Government Development Association (LGDA) in Lagos, which is not listed among the 774 LGAs in Nigeria.

They argued that under ALGON’s constitution, only chairmen from the constitutionally recognised LGAs in the country are allowed to lead the organisation.

At the court session on Friday, Bartholomew Okpara, counsel to the plaintiff, tendered a copy of the 1999 constitution, as amended, where the 774 LGAs are listed, as well as ALGON’s constitution where he said it was stipulated that only chairmen of statutorily recognised LGAs could hold leadership positions in the organisation.

He cited sections 8 of the 1999 constitution, Article 4 of ALGON constitution, as well as a supreme court judgment on the listed LGAs, to buttress his arguments.

“Bariga LCDA is not one of the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria. David, the 8th defendant in this suit, is from an unrecognised local government and as such, not qualified to hold any office in ALGON,” the plaintiff’s counsel said.

He prayed the court to declare David’s emergence as president illegal.

He further prayed the court to invoke sections 150 and 170 of the 1999 constitution as amended, to compel the defendants to ensure compliance with their statutory obligations by protecting ALGON from “impostors”.

The lawyer also asked the court to void the general assembly of the association led by David on March 24, 2021, where resolutions, elections and amendments were made.

The plaintiffs further sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining David from further parading or holding himself out as an officer or representative of ALGON.

However, David through his legal team led by Wahab Shittu, urged the court to dismiss the suit for being incompetent.

In a preliminary objection, the lawyer insisted that the ALGON constitution recognises the office of the president and not chairman, as “erroneously canvassed in the suit”.

Other defendants in the suit are the minister of finance, accountant-general of the federation, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), attorney-general of the federation, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), inspector-general of police and the Department of State Services (DSS).

In 2021, the court had restrained the David-led faction from parading themselves as leaders of the association, pending the determination of the suit.