$418m Paris Club Deduction: Court Dismisses Suit by 36 States

By Adedapo Adesanya

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday dismissed a suit by the Attorneys-General of the 36 states of the federation against the federal government.

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.

In his ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the suit in a judgement delivered on Friday, saying the attorneys-general have 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.