A fresh rift between the federal and state governments resurfaced yesterday as the 36 states warned the Federal Government not to tamper with funds accruing to them and the 774 local government areas under the guise of satisfying alleged $418 million London/Paris Club Loan refund-related judgment debts.
The states warned that any attempt to tamper with the fund would be met with “absolute rejection”.
The states, in documents sighted by Channels Television, said they were not parties to any suit on the London/Paris Club refund, and as such were not liable to any person or entity in any judgment debt being relied on by the Federal Government.
Speaking through the body of Attorneys-General of the Federation, the states warned further that should the Federal Government proceed to make any such deduction, it would be acting illegally and in contempt of their appeal challenging the judgment.
They gave the warning in an April 4 letter as part of their response to a November 11, 2021 letter from the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, advertising the commencement of the deduction for the liquidation of the alleged judgment debts.
The reply of the states was signed by the body of Attorneys-General of the Federation Interim Chairman, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) of Lagos State and Interim Secretary, Dr. Abdulkarim Abubakar Kana of Nasarawa State as well as the Attorneys-Generals of Rivers, Abia, Taraba, Benue, and Zamfara states, for and on behalf of all the state Attorneys-General.
In addition, it noted that the states have also filed a Motion on Notice for an Order of Injunction pending appeal.
The letter added that the body’s legal representatives had published a public caveat in national dailies notifying the public of the pending appeal, which also advised concerned parties “to desist from dealing with the subject matter thereof pending the hearing and determination of the Appeal and the application for Injunction pending appeal.”
