Federal High Court Dismisses Governors’ Suit Challenging Deduction Of $418m Paris Club Refund Against Nigerian Government

Federal High Court Dismisses Governors’ Suit Challenging Deduction Of $418m Paris Club Refund Against Nigerian Government

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit by governors of the 36 states seeking to stop deductions of $418 million Paris Club refund debt.

In the suit, the states are challenging the planned deduction of $418 million from the Federation Account to settle debts owed consultants engaged by the states and local governments in relation to the Paris Club refunds.

File photo used to illustrate story.

The governors, through their counsel, Sunday Ibrahim Ameh (SAN), had asked the court to stop the deduction from the account.

The court had earlier refused to grant a request for an injunctive order restraining the Nigerian government from proceeding with the deductions.

Justice Inyang Ekwo on Friday held that the suit was lacking in merit, saying the state attorneys-generals had not shown enough evidence to accord them the right to institute the action.

He held that there was no express evidence to show that the governors of the 36 states consented to the filing of the suit.

According to the judge, the office of the Attorney-General of a state was created under Section 195 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended and the AG of a state is appointed by a governor, which makes the AG an appointee who is under the control of a governor.

He held that the contention of the plaintiffs that it was not a party to the judgment debt did not hold water because the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and the Association of Local Governments were parties in the suit.

The court further held that the plaintiffs had acknowledged the existence of judgment debt, insisting that the filing of the suit was a ploy to challenge the judgement debt.

Justice Ekwo noted that the action of the plaintiff amounted to an abuse of court process and subsequently dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.

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SaharaReporters, New York



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Source: Federal High Court Dismisses Governors’ Suit Challenging Deduction Of $418m Paris Club Refund Against Nigerian Government