The governments of the 36 states have urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the federal government from going ahead with the deduction of funds from the Federation Account for the settlement of the $418 million Paris Club judgment debt.
This came after the same court dismissed the state government’s lawsuit seeking an order to stop such deductions last month.
In ruling on the lawsuit on March 25, the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, held that the state attorneys general, who jointly filed the lawsuit on behalf of their respective states, lacked the legal capacity to bring the lawsuit without the approval of their governors. consent.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN), however, reports on Tuesday that the attorneys general of the 36 states, on March 28, asked the judge to stay the execution of the sentence.
They asked the court, in their request, to prevent the defendants from proceeding with the execution of the sentence passed on March 25 pending the hearing and determination of their appeal by the Court of Appeal.
The application was filed pursuant to Order 32 Rule 1 and Order 56 Rule 8 of the 2019 Federal Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure; Sections 120 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
The applicants, who listed 26 reasons why the court should grant their sentences, said that the lower court’s decision had been challenged in the Court of Appeal.
Part of the reason is that “applicants have a constitutional right to appeal such decision, pursuant to Sections 36, 240 and 242 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)”.
According to them, the appeal, which they said is pending before the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, “raises contentious, substantive and recondite grounds for appeal with a high chance of success.”
The court, they added, “has vires to grant this lawsuit to preserve the thing and matter of the pending appeal.”
Ekwo set Wednesday for the motion’s hearing.
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The attorney general’s offices of the 36 states had sued the Attorney General’s Office (AGF), the Accountant General of the Federation and the Ministry of Finance, among others, for the planned deduction.
Other defendants sued by the plaintiffs are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Debt Management Office (DMO), Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Incorporated Trustees of the Local Government Association of Nigeria (ALGON), among others.
There are a total of 43 defendants, including judgment creditors, as defendants in the lawsuit filed by the state’s 36 attorneys general on October 27, 2021.
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Last November, Ekwo had blocked the federal government from making deductions from the federation’s account to pay off disputed court debts until the court resolves the issues.
However, in ruling on the lawsuit on March 25, the judge, Mr. Ekwo, held that the state attorneys general lacked the legal capacity to initiate the lawsuit without the consent of their governors.
“State attorneys general cannot bring this lawsuit on their own given the provisions of Section 211 of the 199 Constitution.
“This is beyond the powers of the state attorneys general to initiate this lawsuit on their own.
“No cause of action can flow when a plaintiff lacks the legal capacity to bring a lawsuit.
“This lawsuit does not fall within the class of lawsuits that can be initiated by the State Attorneys General without the consent of the governors,” the judge said.
Mr. Ekwo further argued that the court lacked the power to review its own earlier judgment ordering the payment of creditors.
“I find no merit in this lawsuit and it is accordingly dismissed,” Ekwo said.
The debts had been accrued by court rulings that awarded the creditors, who claimed to be “consultants” and “contractors” of the states and local governments, various sums of money that currently amount to $418 million.
Some of the creditors claimed to have earned their share of the money through “consulting services” to help state and local governments recover excess funds deducted by the federal government from their appropriations between 1995 and 2002 to pay off government loans. London Club and the Paris Club. .
(YAYA)