The Supreme Court will, on Monday, begin hearing on the case between the 36 state governors and the Federal Government over the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The 36 state governors had sued the Federal Government to the apex court over their proposed plan to transfer the sum of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to a new account, which would be known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
A seven-man panel of the court, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher, has assumed jurisdiction over the legal dispute, as both parties failed to settle out of court.
The governors had initially filed the case on October 23, 2011, but the FG pleaded with the court to allow them dialogue on the issue.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs prayed the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order on the Federal Government from making any withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account or any account replacing it, pending the hearing and determination of a subsisting suit they had initiated in 2008.
They also urged the court to order that all sums standing to the credit of the said Excess Crude Account, or any account replacing it, be paid to the court or be secured as the court deems fit.
The governors maintained that unless the order of injunction was granted, the Federal Government would continue to ignore the pending suits before the Supreme Court.
Counsel to the governors, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, said his clients were compelled to approach the apex court for redress in view of the fact that the Federal Government and its officers had consistently and in total disregard for the pending suit, withdrawn, utilised, disbursed and allocated funds from the Account.
He alleged that the Federal Government had nearly depleted the sum of N5.51 trillion, being the balance on the account as at 2008 when the case was instituted.
Awomolo maintained that the defendant in the suit (Federal Government), drew the irk of his clients (governors) when it announced its intention to withdraw, disburse and utilise another one billion U.S Dollars from the credit balance of the account, an action he said would further amount to a sheer disregard of the subsisting suit and disrespect for the authority of the apex court.
According to the thirty six state Governors: “The conduct of the Government of the Federation and her officials is a violation of the principle of the Rule of Law and breach of the Independence of the Judiciary, and constitutes a violation of the principle of Rule of Law handed down by the Supreme Court in the cases of Governor of Lagos Vs Odumegwu Ojukwu (1986) pt 1 NSCC 304 and Rotimi Chibuke Amaechi Vs INEC (2008) 5 NWLR (PT 1080) 277.”
The governors criticized the action of the FG and described it as “executive lawlessness and impunity”.