State attorneys-general sue Malami over ‘failure to remit N1.8trn recovered

Attorneys-general of the 36 states have sued Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), over the alleged failure of government to remit recovered funds into the federation account.

Amongst the reliefs being sought in the suit marked SC/cv/395/2021 and filed before the supreme court, the state attorneys-general are asking to court for “a declaration that by the provisions of Section 162(1) and Section 162(10) of the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), all income, returns, proceeds or receipts howsoever described derived from confiscated, forfeited and/or recovered assets constitute revenue of the federal republic of Nigeria, which must be remitted to federation account for the collective benefit of the federal, state and local governments.”

They also want the court to declare that “the failure and/or refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister of finance, the office of the AGF, and the accountant-general of the federation, and all other relevant authorities and/or agencies of the federation to remit the receipts, income, returns or proceeds derived from all assets recovered, seized, confiscated and forfeited into the federation account to be distributed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution” is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs also want the apex court to declare that “it is unconstitutional for the president, through the federal minister of finance, the AGF, or any other authority whatsoever, to utilise, apply, allocate, expend and appropriate same to itself or distribute same in any other manner howsoever without due allocation from the federation account”.