Recovered Loot: Supreme Court dismisses 36 states’ suit against FG

Recovered Loot: Supreme Court dismisses 36 states’ suit against FG

The supreme court has dismissed a suit filed by the 36 state
governments and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) challenging the federal
government’s management of recovered looted funds.

 

In the lead judgment prepared by Chidiebere Uwa and read by
Mohammed Idris, the seven-member panel of the apex court unanimously held that
the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

 

The court held that the dispute, marked SC/CV/395/2021,
falls within the jurisdiction of the federal high court, not the supreme court.

 

BACKGROUND



In the suit filed in 2021, the states alleged that between
2015 and 2021, the federal government recovered looted funds amounting to
N1,836,906,543,658.73, as well as 167 properties, 450 cars, 300 trucks and
cargoes, and 20 million barrels of crude oil valued at over N450 billion.

 

They claimed the federal government failed to remit these
recoveries into the Federation Account as required by the constitution.

 

Instead, the plaintiffs said, the funds were diverted to the
Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and other accounts not recognised by the
Constitution.

 

 

According to the states, the CRF is “meant for the federal
government’s share of the Federation Account and other federal earnings,
including receipts from licenses and land revenue, administrative fees, sales
and rent of government property, interest from federal investments, repayments
from state governments, and personal income tax of members of the armed
forces”.

 

They argued that the federal government’s creation of the
asset recovery account and interim forfeiture recovery account, into which
proceeds from recovered assets were paid, violated constitutional provisions.

 

The plaintiffs stated that “numerous recoveries of illegally
acquired assets have been secured through anti-corruption and law enforcement
agencies since 2015,” listing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC), Nigerian Police Force, and the office of the attorney-general of the
federation among the responsible bodies.

 

They relied on sections 162(1), 162(10), and 80 of the
constitution, as well as section 2 of the Finance (Control and Management) Act,
1958, to argue that all recovered funds qualify as revenue payable into the
federation account.

 

 

“It is unconstitutional to remit or divert revenue payable
into the Federation Account to the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federal
Government or any other account whatsoever, or to apply the said revenue to any
other purpose,” the plaintiffs said.

 

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that all proceeds
from recovered assets cash and non-cash, must be paid into the federation
account for the benefit of all tiers of government.

 

They also sought an order compelling the federal government
to remit N1.8 trillion (cash) and N450 billion (non-cash assets) recovered
since 2015 into the federation account.

 

They prayed the court for a directive for the federal
government and relevant officials to provide a detailed account of all
unrecovered or unremitted assets.

 

 

They also sought an order requiring the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to design modalities for distributing
the recovered assets among the federal, state, and local governments.

 

However, the case was struck out by the court on Friday.

Source: Recovered Loot: Supreme Court dismisses 36 states’ suit against FG

 - NigerianEye

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