A suit by the Attorneys-General of the 36 states against the Federal Government on a planned deduction of $418 million from the Federation Account has been dismissed by an Abuja Federal High Court.
The Federal government wants to deduct $418 million from the Federation Account to settle debts owed to consultants engaged by the states and local governments in relation to the Paris Club refunds.
But the 36 states of the federation, through their attorneys-general, went to court to challenge the move.
But, Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Friday sacked the suit, saying the attorneys-general have not shown enough evidence to accord them the right to institute the action.
According to the judge, there was no express evidence to show that the governors of the 36 states consented to the filing of the suit.
The judge noted that 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 said 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 also 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.
According to Justice Ekwo, the action of the plaintiff amounted to an abuse of court process.
He, therefore, sacked the suit for lacking in merit.