Court restrains FG from deducting $418million from states account

By Modupe Shodeinde

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday has stopped the Federal government from going ahead to deduct $418million dollars from the bank account of the 36 states governments.

Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order on Friday after listening to Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) and Ahmed Raji (SAN) who argued the states’ ex-parte application.

While moving the ex-parte motion, Otukepa, argued that the 36 states would be crippled if the Federal Government, acting trough through the first to seventh defendant, goes ahead to deduct the huge amount from the bank accounts of the States.

He said the Federal Government claimed that the planned monthly deduction, scheduled to commence at the end of November was to settle debts for contracts allegedly executed for the States.

Otukepa however said that the 36 States’ Attorneys-General have read the purported judgment displayed the Federal Government and found that the states were not parties to the court cases which led to the judgment debt.

He added that the purported contract claimed to have been executed for the states were not known to any of the 36 state governments and is therefore a phoney contract.

Okutepa noted that the Federal Government was the only party to the court case that resulted in the judgment and therefore such judgment is not binding on the state government.

After listening to the arguments of the 36 states, Justice Ekwo ordered the federal government not to go ahead to make any deduction from the state account in respect of the purported court judgment until all issues relating to it are fully determined.

Defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation AGF, Finance Minister, Accountant General of the Federation and all banks in Nigera among others.

The Judge fixed the matter for November 30th and ordered the plaintiffs lawyer to serve all processes on the defendants before the adjourned date.

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