Jonathan orders Adoke to defray debts

[DT]

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Bello Adoke to ensure a reduction in judgement expenses.

Jonathan said the Federal Government has incurred about N185 billion debts from the various court rulings against it. Speaking at the 2012 Democracy Day National Symposium yesterday at the State House, Jonathan blamed poor legal advise for the huge judgment debt.

According to him "As we are talking now, we have about N185 billion judgment debt for this country, most  of them because of decisions taken by government were not properly thought through because people pushed you to take such decisions.

"When people go to court, the government is being fined; I have told Attorney General that we must stop this," he said.

Speaking on the 2015 elections, the President reiterated his call on public office holders to concentrate and not to be distracted by politics.

He said, "Let us keep away from whether someone is going to contest or not. Let us focus on governance. It is not yet time for anybody to declare or not to declare interest."

The president recently warned against political meetings towards the 2015 polls threatening to sack any of his lieutenants that engage in it.

Daily Trust