Court gives Kano State Govt 7 days to respond to claims by 44 LGAs

and had filed a memorandum of conditional appearance today (Wednesday).
Matanmi, who said that Nasarawa was served with the application earlier in the morning, stated that he was yet to see all the plaintiffs’ processes in the matter
He argued that he could not have put up a defence in the case without seeing the processes filed, including the motion on notice and the orders.
He said there is no way he can show cause without seeing all the processes including the motion on notice as well as the orders.
Matanmi also argued that the rules of the court cited by Nasarawa did not specify the number of days to show cause, urging the court to adjourn the matter for them to respond accordingly.
Besides, he argued that even if he had three days to show cause, his clients were still within time to respond due to the public holidays.
3rd defendant’s lawyer, Okechukwu Edeze, aligned himself with Matanmi’s submission, while informing the court about his memorandum of conditional appearance.
Edeze, who said he was briefed about the case less than 24 hours ago, sought for an adjournment in the interest of fair hearing.
“I have not seen the processes of this court. Only God knows the truth,” Edaeze said.
But Nasarawa countered them, insisting that they had been duly served.
“If they chose not to (show cause), it is to their detriment,” Nasarawa said, urging the court to discountenance their arguments.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Okorowo held that though records showed that the defendants were duly served with the processes on Dec. 29, 2023, he agreed with defence counsel that the three-day timeframe outlined for the defendants to respond was affected by public holidays.
The judge also held that the memorandum of conditional appearance by the respondents suggested they planned to challenge the suit.
He said though Order 26, Rule 11 gave a time frame which should not be less than three days for defendants to respond, he observed that by Order 26, Rule 15 of the court, the court was empowered to either discharge the order or made order absolute or modify the earlier order made.
According to him, the provision gives the court the discretion to vary or extend the order.
Justice Okorowo consequently gave the defendants seven days to show cause why the ex-parte orders should not be granted.
He adjourned the matter until Jan. 11 for hearing of the matter.