Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja has stopped the Federal Government from going ahead to deduct $418million dollars from the bank account of the 36 States governments
Justice Ekwo made the restraining order on Friday after hearing an ex parte application by Jibrin Otukepa SAN and Ahmed Raji SAN, on behalf of the 36 state governments
Okutepa,who moved the application, submitted that the states would be completely crippled if the Federal Government is not restrained from deducting the huge amount from the bank accounts of its clients.
After listening to the arguments of the 36 states, Justice Ekwo ordered the Federal Government not to go ahead to make any deduction from the State accounts in respect of a purported court judgment until all issues relating to it are fully determined.
The court fixed November 30, for hearing of the suit just as it ordered the plaintiffs to serve all processes on the defendants before the adjourned date.
Earlier, the applicants had informed the Judge that the Federal Government predicated its plan to deduct the $418million from the state account every month in order to service a debt for contracts allegedly executed for the states.
Okutepa said that the 36 states Attorneys General have scrutinized the purported contract and judgment and found that the states were not parties to court action that resulted to the judgment debt.
He further told the court that the Federal Government was the only party to the court case that brought the judgment and therefore such judgment is not binding on the state government.
He added that the purported contract claimed to have been executed for the states are not known to any of the 36 state governments and is therefore a phony contract.
