The Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the 36 state governments seeking to compel the Federal Government to account for revenues generated from the sale of liquefied natural gas, natural gas liquids, and related products since 1999.
In a unanimous decision, a seven-member panel of the court, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, ruled that the court lacked original jurisdiction to hear the case, which named the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as the sole defendant.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba upheld the AGF’s preliminary objection, noting that the issues raised in the suit had already been addressed by the Supreme Court in an earlier ruling in the case of Attorney General of Bauchi State v. Attorney General of the Federation.
Justice Garba agreed with the AGF’s argument that the case amounted to a re-litigation of matters previously decided by the court, particularly regarding revenue accruing to the federation and payments into the federation account.
He concluded that the Supreme Court did not have the original jurisdiction to hear the case as presented and struck out the suit on those grounds.
The other members of the panel—Justices Abba-Aji, Emmanuel Agim, Simon Tsammani, Stephen Adah, and Jamilu Tukur—concurred with the lead judgment.