A Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the Nigerian Government from going ahead to deduct $418 million (N172 billion) from the bank account of the 36 state governments.
Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order against the Nigerian Government on Friday, following an ex parte application argued by counsel for the 36 states, Jibrin Otukepa and Ahmed Raji, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
Otukepa, who led the legal team of the states, told the judge that the states would be completely crippled if the Nigerian Government should deduct the huge amount from the bank accounts of its clients.
According to Daily Post, the senior lawyers told the judge that Nigerian Government was planning to deduct the $418 million from the state account monthly to service debts for contracts allegedly executed for the states.
The 36 states Attorneys General have scrutinised the purported contract and judgment and found that the states were not parties to court action that resulted in the judgment debt, Otukepa revealed.
He explained that the purported contract claimed to have been executed for the states are not known to any of the 36 state governments and is, therefore, a phony contract.
“The Federal Government was the only party to the court case that brought the judgment and therefore such judgment is not binding on the state government,” he told the court,” the lawyer said.
However, Justice Ekwo ordered the Nigerian government not to make any deduction from the state account in respect of the purported court judgment until all issues relating to it are fully determined.
The judge adjourned the matter to November 30 and ordered the plaintiff’s lawyer to serve all processes on the defendants before the adjourned date.
