Governors To Drag FG To Court Over Federation Account Deductions

ABUJA, July 12, (THEWILL) - The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is threatening to institute legal action against the Federal Government for continuing with its controversial deductions from the Federation Account to balance out the payment of fuel subsidy.

The governors have on many occasions publicly expressed their aversion to the idea; and on Thursday morning, they decided on a court action after a meeting in Abuja.

“The forum deliberated extensively on the continuing illegal deductions from the Federation Account towards offsetting oil subsidy, excess crude by the Federal Government, and unanimously resolved to go to court to seek legal redress,” chairman of the group, Governor Rotimi Amechi said, reading out a communiqué to journalists. He added that the decision was taken after, long, painstaking deliberations.

Amaechi also announced the sympathy of the forum with the government of Plateau on the recent killing of more than 100 people and destruction of properties. He expressed the group’s unanimous condemnation of recurrent outbreaks of violence in the country.

NGF appealed to the federal government to immediately commence the recruitment, intensive training and proper deployment of security agents across the country, and enjoined Customs and Immigration Services to bolster security at the borders in order to protect the country from the influx of criminals.

In other parts of the communiqué, the forum resolved to inaugurate an Economic and Security Intervention Committee, to comprise members from Rivers, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Abia, Plateau, Adamawa and Zamfara States.

It equally announced its willingness to schedule a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan to deliberate on an emergency intervention plan that would first concentrate on agriculture, and later other economic programmes for employment generation especially in northern states.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum, after its meeting of 5th April had publicly spoken against deductions of oil subsidy from the Federation Account, describing it as “unconstitutional” and a “negation of the principle of federalism and budgetary provision.”