The Attorney-General of the 36 states appealed a court’s ruling, dismissing a suit seeking to stop the Federal Government from deducting the $418 million Paris club debt from state accounts.
Current situation
State Governors are appealing to stop President Buhari and others from deducting $418 million accumulated by state and local governments from state funds.
What happened
There has been controversy over the repayment of a $418 million loan between the three tiers of government. While the consultants claimed the amount as a payment for their services to both state and local governments, the Federal Government planned to deduct the money from state funds in November 2021. President Buhari halted the action, following a court ruling restraining from deducting the monies.
State government says they played no part resulting in the debt.
What they are saying
The presiding judge, Justice Ekwo, ruled that the attorney generals are neither part of the Nigerian Governor’s forum nor members of the Association of Local government in Nigeria and as such have no right to appeal. He dismissed the suit by the attorney generals.
Meanwhile
The state governors, in stating the implications of deducting from the state funds, say that the resulting effect is an inability to pay worker’s salaries.
Parties involved
The plaintiffs in the case are the 36 state governors while the defendants are the Attorney-General of the federation, Accountant-General of the federation, Minister of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria and many more.