President, Muhammadu Buhari
A
member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Igariwey Iduma-Enwo, on
Wednesday approached an Abuja Federal High Court to challenge the
decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue states in the country
with a bailout of N713.7bn.
Many states already owed backlog of unpaid salaries by May 29 when Buhari assumed office as President.
The states later turned to the Federal Government for rescue, a development that informed the President’s action.
But, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1022/15,
which the Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker from Ebonyi State filed on
Wednesday, Iduma-Enwo is seeking to know whether Buhari has powers under
the 1999 Constitution to give the bailout without the approval of the
National Assembly.
On
the list of the defendants in the suit are the President;
Attorney-General of the Federation; Federal Ministry of Finance;
Accountant-General of the Federation; Auditor-General of the Federation;
and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
Iduma-Enwo, who represents
Afikpo-North/South Federal Constituency, is urging the court to
determine whether Buhari could, by presidential “fiat”, direct that
public money from the pool account of the Federal Government should be
disbursed to states and local governments without recourse to the
National Assembly, “the authority vested with the power of appropriation
in this case.”
Part of the originating summons read,
“Whether having regards to the combined effect of sections 192, 163, 164
and 168 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which prescribes the way
and manner public revenue shall be distributed from the distribution
pool account, the 1st defendant (Buhari) can by itself or by way of
fiat, issue lawful directives to the 3rd-6th defendants to appropriate,
distribute, allocate and disburse public revenue from the distributable
pool account to the federal, state and local governments without the
prescription of the National Assembly.”
The plaintiff is asking the court to
declare the action of the President and his co-defendants
“unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void.”
He is also seeking an order of “perpetual
injunction restraining the defendants from giving out funds to the
states and local governments without the prescription of the National
Assembly.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Speaking with journalists at the National
Assembly soon after filing the suit, Iduma-Enwo said he decided to
challenge Buhari because he acted alone without regard for the principle
of separation of powers.
He noted that while he sympathise with
the states, especially now that many civil servants could not fend for
their families due to non-payment of salaries, the President must still
follow the “due process of law.”
The lawmaker added, “Let him show us
where it is stated in the Constitution that the President can
unilaterally give money without the approval of the National Assembly.
“It then means that one day they can sit at Aso Rock and pass the national budget.
“Why do we have the National Assembly
if matters like this can be handled by fiat without letting the
National Assembly know about it or play its role as the appropriating
authority?
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