Court Stops FG From Deducting $418m From 36 State Governments' Account

 A Federal High Court sitting inAbuja on Friday, restrained the Federal Government from deducting $418million from the bank account of the 36 state governments

Edu-Biznews recalled that the State Governments had earlier rejected the sharing of the allocation for the month of October from the Federation Account, following the insistance of the Federal Government to deduct the amount, but the money was later shared recently among the three tiers of government

Justice Inyang Ekwoe  issued the order against the Federal Government, following an exparte application filed and argued by counsel to the 36 states, Jibrin Otukepa (SAN) and Ahmed Raji (SAN).

Otukepa  who moved the application before the court on behalf of the states, told the judge that the states would be completely crippled if the Federal Government should go ahead to deduct the huge amount from the bank accounts of the respective states.

The counsel further argued that the Federal Government predicted the plan to deduct the $418million from the states’ account monthly to service a debt for contracts allegedly executed for the states.

Otukepa  told  the court that the 36 states’ attorneys general had scrutinised the purported contract and judgment and found that the states were not parties to court action that resulted to the judgment debt.

The purported contract according to the legal team , are not known to any of the 36 state governments and is, therefore, a phony contract.

Otukepa, a senior advocate further told Justice Ekwoe  that the Federal Government was the only party to the court case that brought the judgment, stressing that such judgment was not binding on the state government.

Justice Ekwo after listening to the argument of the State Governments   then ordered the Federal Government not to go ahead to make any deduction from the states’ account in respect of the purported court judgment until all issues relating to it are fully determined.

Defendants in the suit include the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Finance Minister, Accountant General of the Federation and all banks in Nigeria.

The judge fixed the matter for November 30 and ordered the plaintiffs’ counsel to serve all processes on the defendants before the adjourned date.