36 state attorneys-general sue AGF over recovered funds’ remittance

ATTORNEYS-GENERAL of the 36 states of the country have sued the Federal Government over its failure to remit funds into the federal account. In the suit filed before the Supreme Court and marked as SC/CV/395/2021, the 36 attorneys-general asked the court to declare “that by the provisions of Section 162(1) and Section 162(10) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended), all income, returns, proceeds or receipts howsoever described derived from confiscated, forfeited and/or recovered assets constitute revenue of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and must be remitted to federation account for the collective benefit of the federal, state and local governments.” 

They also asked the court to declare that the failure and, or refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari, minister of finance and the offices of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Accountant-General of the Federation, including all other relevant authorities and/or agencies of the federation to remit the receipts, income, returns or proceeds derived from all assets recovered, seized, confiscated and forfeited into the federation account, for distribution in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, is unconstitutional. 

The plaintiffs deposed from 2015 till date, the Federal Government had secured both international and municipal forfeiture, recovery and repatriation of “stolen assets” in the sum of N1,836,906,543,658.73, about 167 properties, 450 cars, 300 trucks and cargoes and 20,000,000 barrels of crude oil worth over N450 million and had failed to remit same as required by the constitution. 

The plaintiffs alleged that instead of paying the cash into the Federation Account, the Federal Government illegally diverted it into the Consolidated Revenue Accounts (CRA) and other accounts not recognised by the Nigerian constitution. 

Director-General, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Ashishana Okauru, who deposed to the affidavit on behalf of the plaintiffs, said the funds in the CRAs strictly belong to the Federal Government and specific states and are not distributable among the federating units. 

They are, therefore, asking for the remittance of N1.8 trillion (cash) and N450 billion (non-cash) in recovered loot since 2015 into the federation account. 

They are also asking for a detailed account of the recovered assets not remitted into the Federation Account by President Buhari, as well as all the relevant officials and agencies of government. 

They also want the apex court to compel the Federal Government, through the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC), to design the modalities for distributing recovered assets among the federating units. 

The suit accuses President Buhari of various constitutional breaches in his handling of the forfeited assets.

 

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