36 Govs drag FG to court over planned sale of 10 power projects
By Tunde Opalana
Governors of the 36 states of the federation, under the auspice of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) are at loggerheads with the Federal Government over planned sale of ten National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs).
To stop the Federal Government, the Forum had instructed its lawyers to approach the Federal High Court which at present has issued a Court Order restraining all the parties in the suit from taking any step or action that will make or render the outcome of the Motion on Notice seeking for Interlocutory Injunction nugatory.
The effect of the Order of the Court is that Federal Government cannot proceed with the proposed sale of the power plants belonging to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHCL) until the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction, DailyTimesNGR gathered.
Likewise the Forum said it remained resolute in exploring all legal options regarding the $418 million Paris Club Refund and promissory notes issued to Consultants by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The Forum said it will ensure that resources belonging to States are not unjustly or illegally paid to a few in the guise of consultancies.
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These decisions were taken at the meeting of the NGF held in Abuja on Tuesday.
This was contained in a communique issued at the 8th Teleconference meeting of the Forum. The communique was signed by the NGF chairman and governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
The communique read in part: “Sequel to discussions between sub-sovereigns at the recently concluded 2nd African Sub-Sovereign Government Network (AfSNET) Conference, the Forum agreed to pursue through its membership on the Forum of Regions of Africa (FORAF) and its partnership with the African Export–Import (AFREXIM) Bank, support for enhanced dialogue, cooperation and collaboration between sub-sovereign governments around intra-African trade, investment, industrialisation, and development.
“The Forum is monitoring the flood situation across the country and working with the Federal Government through the National Economic Council (NEC) and in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHDSD), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP) and the World Bank to prepare emergency interventions to ameliorate the impact of the flood crisis especially to sustain Food Security.
“Members were also briefed by the World Bank Task Team Leader (TTL), Professor Foluso Okunmadewa on the desired restructuring of the $750 million Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Program (CARES) programme to respond to Nigeria 2022 Flood Response following discussions with States and the National Economic Council (NEC) Ad hoc Committee on Flooding. The restructuring will allow States reallocate funding from the programme for immediate response for livelihoods, assets and basic services.
“As the flood recedes, the States through the programme will be able to support the household enterprise recovery grants, short-term transfer of households displaced, labor intensive opportunities for unskilled labor, rehabilitation of basic services infrastructure, recovery of damaged agricultural infrastructure, rehabilitation of destroyed wet markets, amongst others.
“The Forum received update from the Senior Progamme Manager NGF States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Technical Assistance Programme, Olanrewaju Ajogbasile, on the implementation progress of the SFTAS programme which is in its last phase of annual assessments.
“Members were also informed of technical assistance planned and on-going to support sustainability of the reforms including support to ensure States publish their 2023 budget in line with the National Chart of Account (NCoA). The Forum assured the programme of its commitment to sustain the reforms and implement recommendations that could further strengthen their public financial management systems.”
The communique also indicated that the Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola briefed the Forum on the congestion of the custodial centers across the country and the digitalisation of immigration processes.
It added that members welcomed the report of the Minister and committed to working with law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on the recommendations put forward as they relate to individual State jurisdiction.
Finally, it said the NGF Senior Health Advisor, Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab briefed the Forum on the progress with Polio/Routine Immunization highlighting that there has been an 85% reduction in the number of Circulating Vaccine-Derived PolioVirus (cVDPV) in 2022 from 1,028 cases recorded in 2021.
