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State Governor Wields Legal Sword Against FG
The Adamawa State Government has filed a suit against federal government before the supreme court over revenue distribution from the federation account.
Eko Hot Blog reports that this development comes few hours after the supreme court delivers verdict in local government autonomy suit against state governments.
In a statement on Thursday, Humwashi Wonosikou, chief press secretary to Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa governor, said the state is seeking interpretation of Section 162 (1), (2) and (3) of the constitution regarding the distribution of revenue from the federation account.
The state argued that “the entire sum in the federation account must be distributed among all levels of government without deductions, except as permitted by law”.
“The president must comply strictly with the constitution in managing and distributing revenue,” the statement reads.
“All revenue collected, except those exempted by the constitution, must be paid into the federation account for distribution to all tiers of government.
“The federal government has no discretion to withhold or deduct revenue for any purpose not expressly permitted by the constitution.”
The state is also seeking that “the federal government must distribute the entire revenue from the federation account without deductions, except as permitted by law”.
Any deductions or withholdings made without constitutional backing are unconstitutional,” Adamawa added.
“The federal government’s discretion to manage revenue is limited to only what is expressly permitted by the constitution.”
The state government said it is also seeking a strict interpretation of the constitution to ensure that revenue distribution is “done in a transparent and constitutional manner, without arbitrary deductions or withholdings by the federal government”.
Recall that the supreme court had earlier on today ruled that the federal government should henceforth pay allocations directly to local government councils from the federation account.
Delivering judgment in the suit, a seven-member panel of justices held that state governments have continued to abuse their powers by retaining and using the funds meant for LGAs.
The apex court also ordered the federal government to withhold allocations of LGs governed by unelected officials appointed by the governor.
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