‘N1.8trn Loot’: Supreme Court Strikes Out Governors’ Suit Against FG
The Supreme Court has struck out a lawsuit filed by the 36 state governments and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) against the Federal Government over the alleged diversion of recovered looted funds amounting to N1.8tr and N45m worth of assets.
In a judgment delivered Friday, a seven-member panel of the apex court unanimously ruled that the suit was improperly filed.
Justice Mohammed Idris, who read the lead judgment prepared by Justice Chidiebere Uwa, held that the case fell outside the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and should have been instituted at the Federal High Court.
The states and the NGF had accused the Federal Government of failing to remit recovered funds and assets into the Federation Account as constitutionally required.
Instead, they alleged that the funds recovered between 2015 and 2021 through various local and international forfeiture actions were illegally diverted into the Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA) and other unauthorised accounts.
According to the plaintiffs, the recovered loot included over N1.8tr in cash, 167 properties, 450 cars, 300 trucks, cargoes, and around 20 million barrels of crude oil valued at over N450m. They contended that such assets should be shared among the three tiers of government in line with constitutional provisions.
The suit challenged the legality of the Asset Recovery Account and Interim Forfeiture Recovery Account established by the Federal Government, arguing that these violated Sections 80, 162(1), and 162(10) of the 1999 Constitution and the Finance (Control and Management) Act of 1958. These sections, they argued, mandate that all revenue, including that from recovered assets, be paid into the Federation Account for equitable distribution.
The plaintiffs asked the court to compel the remittance of all recovered funds into the Federation Account and to order the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) to design a framework for sharing the assets among the federal, state, and local governments.
They also sought an order mandating the Federal Government and relevant agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Police Force, and the Office of the Attorney-General, to give a full account of all recovered assets and their usage since 2015.
However, the Apex Court ruled that the nature of the dispute fell outside its original jurisdiction and struck out the suit in its entirety.
The court advised that the matter be taken up in a lower court with competent jurisdiction.
‘N1.8trn Loot’: Supreme Court Strikes Out Governors’ Suit Against FG is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
