Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has tasked all the Attorney Generals of the states to be on red alert against the states losing money to insecurity, the battle for local government autonomy, and the ongoing suit to retrieve the $418 million Paris Fund.
Fayemi spoke yesterday at a two-day meeting of the Attorney Generals of the 36 states, taking place in Abuja.
Declaring open the workshop, Fayemi tasked the states chief law officers that, “The spate of insecurity across many states, political and economic uncertainties in the country and the states have placed the office of the Attorney General on red alert in ensuring that the state is not ambushed through frivolous cases/court orders that may lead to heavy financial losses and grounding of government business.
“We have no doubt that this meeting would afford you the opportunity to seek solutions,” the Ekiti state governor said, adding that in the governors, there were agenda items, usually national issues, which would greatly impact states and require their attention as governors.
According to Governor Fayemi, “Some of them are sufficiently contentious as to require resolution in court. We have a number of these cases and there is a need to carry you along and seek your input. This is one of the reasons for this gathering and some of the lawyers handling these cases will be here to address you.
“You are all aware of the controversy occasioned by the question of the autonomy of the Judiciary and Legislature. The Forum has often been in support of autonomy, but we felt that the onus was on the states to determine and implement it. It is, therefore, expedient that as chief law officers, you exercise the right to review and monitor the extent of implementation in your States,” he said.
He further tasked the states, chief law officers, to note some of the burning issues like the “administration of the criminal justice system, Stamp Duties, Value Added Tax, the fallout from the London Paris Club Refunds, culminating in the criminal bid to deprive states of $419m. These require your attention, and the Forum looks forward to your views and advice on the way forward,” he said.
Fayemi explained that the decision to convene this gathering was a consequence of the Forum’s determination to achieve an alignment of purpose between the activities of the NGF and the work that the Attorneys General were appointed to do.
Fayemi went on to note that the forum, through its Peace and Inclusive Security Initiative (PISI), has commenced discussions with stakeholders on diverse ways to handle some of the security challenges and restore peace to the communities.
He recalled that last week, the Forum hosted one of such multi-stakeholder meetings in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) with satisfying results.
The Ekiti governor, therefore, explained that the governors were delighted to hold the meeting with the Attorney Generals of the 36 States of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) to align with their shared goals and address certain legal issues plaguing the states.
Chuks Okocha,
This Day