N700bn Fund For States: Hon. Enwo Withdraws Court Case Against Buhari

The member representing Afikpo North/South Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State in the House of Representatives, Igariwey Iduma Enwo, who dragged President Muhammadu Buhari before an Abuja Federal Court over the release of N713.7 billion to states to pay backlog of salaries “without following constitutional process”, has withdrawn the case.

The president had on July 6 approved the release of the funds for the states to be able to settle backlog of salaries they owed their workers.

However, Rep Enwo of the Peoples Democratic Party had faulted the approval, saying it violated Section 164 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that such grants could only be given after approval by the National Assembly, which he said President Buhari did not approach before unilaterally taking the decision.

He also said Sections 162, 163, 164 and 168 of the 1999 Constitution stipulate the procedure for distributing public revenue from the Distributable Pool Account, but that such procedures were disregarded by the president.

The lawmaker, therefore, prayed the court to declare Buhari’s action as unconstitutional and prevent the occurrence of such in future. He also prayed the court to mandate the president not to violate the sections of the constitution cited in granting such grants in future.

Justifying his withdrawal of the case from court yesterday, Rep. Enwo said the state governments had cleared the air that they were yet to receive the amount and that it was not a grant but loan.

Besides, he said, his suit was also based on the fact that the House was on recess, but that since the lower chamber is now back to business, he had to discontinue the case in court.

He further stated that he had since directed his lawyers to take the necessary actions and withdraw the matter from the court.

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