The Supreme Court has ordered the Governors of the 36 States of the federation to file their individual defences to a federal government petition demanding full autonomy for the country's 774 local government areas (LGAs) within seven days.

The Supreme Court also ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice to reply within two days after receiving the governors' defences.

Justice Garba Lawal issued the order on Thursday while ruling on a motion for an abridgement of time presented by the AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.

Justice Lawal, who led a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court, stated that the court's decision was based on the national urgency of the case and the lack of objections from the attorneys-general of the 36 states of the Federation.

The Supreme Court ruled that all processes must be filed and exchanged within the time frame specified, and it later set June 13 as the hearing date for the suit.

Justice Lawal ordered that the eight states that were not present at Thursday's proceedings be served with a new hearing notice.

The eight states were Borno, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Sokoto, whose attorneys-general (AGs) were absent in court, despite being served with hearing notice.