By Omowumi Omotosho
An attempt by all 36 state governors and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to challenge the federal government’s handling of recovered looted assets has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, which ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Delivering the lead decision prepared by Justice Chidiebere Uwa and presented by Justice Mohammed Idris, the apex court’s seven-member panel unanimously ruled that the legal dispute should have been brought before a federal high court, not the Supreme Court.
The legal action, registered as SC/CV/395/2021, was initiated in 2021. The states alleged that the federal government had recovered a total of N1.84 trillion between 2015 and 2021, alongside 167 properties, 450 vehicles, 300 trucks and other cargo, and 20 million barrels of crude oil worth more than N450 billion.
The governors argued that these recoveries were not deposited into the Federation Account as constitutionally required, prompting their lawsuit. However, the Supreme Court determined it was not the appropriate forum to adjudicate on the matter.
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 claimed 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.
The governors had urged the court to mandate the federal government to deposit N1.8 trillion in recovered funds and an additional N450 billion in assets retrieved since 2015 into the Federation Account.
They also requested a judicial order compelling the federal government and its agencies to disclose a comprehensive inventory of all recovered assets yet to be accounted for or remitted.
Furthermore, they asked the court to instruct the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to establish a clear framework for equitably sharing the recovered assets among the three tiers of government, federal, state, and local.
Despite these demands, the court dismissed the suit on Friday.
