The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the 36 states and the federal government to find ways to settle out of court the dispute over the maintenance of the Excess Crude Account and the transfer of one billion dollars from the account to the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF.
The apex court therefore adjourned the matter till March 8, 2016 to allow both parties settle the issue amicably.
The 36 states are challenging at the federal government’s creation of the SWF and the transfer of funds from the Excess Crude Account into the special purse, arguing that they had been denied their share of the funds.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, the Supreme Court granted a request by the parties to explore an amicable resolution of the disagreement and settle the matter out of court.
At the sitting, the federal government’s counsels, Wole Olanipekun and Austin Alegeh, observed that a new Attorney General of the Federation had just been appointed and that he would need time to study the case file before taking action..
Adjourning the case, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mohammed Mahmud, who presided, urged the parties to find amicable ways to settle the matter before the next adjournment day, adding that, otherwise, the court would commence hearing.
The 36 state governors are seeking an order declaring the creation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund by the federal government illegal and unconstitutional. They are also asking for an order declaring that all sums standing to the credit of the Excess Crude Account should be paid into court or be otherwise secured at the pleasure of the court pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
The states also want the court to compel the federal government to pay back into the Federation Account all sums standing in credit of the Excess Crude Account.
Counsel to the state governors, Adegboyega Awomolo, had applied to the Supreme Court to stop the federal government from making any withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account (or any account replacing same by any name howsoever), pending the hearing and determination of a suit they filed in 2008.
Awomolo said the governors were forced to file the application because the federal government and its officials had consistently, and in total disregard for the pending suit, withdrawn, utilised, disbursed and allocated funds from the account and had nearly depleted N5.51 trillion being the balance in the account as at 2008 when the case was instituted.
In the long drawn battle at the Supreme Court, the federal government had challenged the jurisdiction of the apex court to hear the suit, arguing that the matter was between the states and the federal government as opposed to the states versus the federation and thus ought to have been filed before a Federal High Court.
The federal government had classified some revenues as “excess crude proceeds” and “excess PPT and royalties” and paid receipts from these into the Excess Crude Account, which the states contend is illegal.
In court, the federal government accused the states of mischief and insincerity as it said that they took part in the meeting of the National Economic Council where the decision to transfer the $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to the SWF was taken.
The central government also noted that the states had been sharing from the money in the Excess Crude Account and accused them of insincerity.
However, the states insisted that they had shared only the legitimate funds deposited in the Federation Account and not from the funds illegally deposited in the Excess Crude Account.