Joint account: Governors opt for legal battle with NFIU

The 36 state governors are heading to the courts over the decision of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to strip them of their hold on the State Joint Accounts.

The governors met in Abuja on Thursday and rejected a political solution to the disagreement with the NFIU over the Local Government statutory allocations from the Federation Account.

They insisted that the NFIU Act 2018 lacks the power to issue guidelines on local government finances, especially imposition of sanctions.

It was learnt that the governors chose legal battle than political resolution in order to “lay the matter to rest once and for all.”
They also argued that political option would amount to conferring legitimacy on “assumed powers by the NFIU which may set a bad precedent.”
A governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “Initially, we thought of prevailing on the presidency to broker talks between the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the NFIU because we are also committed to probity and accountability.
“When we met, all governors agreed that the NFIU guidelines are unconstitutional and we should not use political rapprochement to confer legitimacy on the assumed powers of the agency. We have realized that the issues at stake border on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

“All the governors have resolved that we should take the battle to the court for a clear cut decision which will guide the present generation of governors and their successors.
“We want the court to interpret Section 7(6) (a) and (b) and Section 162(6), (7), and (8) of the Constitution.

“If you look at Section 7(6) (a) and (b) of the Constitution, it gives the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly the powers to make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to the local councils in the Federation and within the State respectfully.