Supreme Court Dismisses States' Case Against FG Over Recovered Looted Funds

 

Photo: Channelstv

The Supreme Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Nigeria's 36 states and the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) challenging how the federal government has been handling recovered looted funds. A unanimous seven-member panel of the court ruled that the case was improperly brought before the apex court.

Justice Mohammed Idris, who delivered the lead judgment on behalf of Justice Chidiebere Uwa, stated that the plaintiffs had mistakenly invoked the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. Specifically, the court held that the subject matter of the suit (marked SC/CV/395/2021) actually falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

The States' Allegations

In their lawsuit, the states claimed that between 2015 and 2021, the federal government had recovered a staggering $1.8 trillion in "stolen assets" through both international and local efforts. This included substantial assets like 167 properties, 450 cars, 300 trucks and cargoes, and 20 million barrels of crude oil valued at over N450 million. The states alleged that the federal government failed to remit these funds as constitutionally required.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs accused the federal government of illegally diverting these cash recoveries into the Consolidated Revenue Accounts (CRA) and other accounts not recognized by the Nigerian Constitution, instead of depositing them into the Federation Account.

The states argued that the CRA is meant for the federal government's share from the Federation Account, other federal earnings, and funds belonging to specific state governments. They elaborated that other federal earnings typically paid into the CRA include revenue from federal government licenses, land revenue, administrative fees, earnings from sales, rent of government property, interest from federal government investments, repayments from state governments, and Personal Income Tax of Armed Forces personnel, among others.

Finally, the plaintiffs contended that the creation of the Asset Recovery Account and Interim Forfeiture Recovery Account, designed to receive revenue from recovered assets, directly contradicts the provisions of the Constitution as outlined in the Asset Recovery Regulation.