Joint Account: Governors Ask Buhari to Stop NFIU's Order

The 36 state governors at the weekend approached   President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to stop the directive by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on the disbursement of federal allocation to the local government councils.

The NFIU had set June 1, 2019, as the take-off date of the new order, making it compulsory for all local government allocations to go straight to their respective bank accounts.

The decision was contained in a guideline released by the NFIU after a lengthy meeting with officials of commercial banks in Abuja.

The directive titled: " NFIU Enforcement and Guidelines to Reduce Crime Vulnerabilities Created by Cash Withdrawal from Local Government Funds Throughout Nigeria Effective June 1st, 2019 and dated May 15th, 2019, the body asked banks to comply or be ready to face the consequences.

However, in a protest letter sent to the present under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), the governors asked President Buhari to restrain NFIU from dabbling into a matter that is beyond its mandate.

In the letter signed by the Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, the governors expressed “dismay and angst at what they described as the "brazen attempt by the NFIU to ridicule our collective integrity and show total disregard for the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended."

In its reaction, vie a letter sighted at the weekend, the NGF governors drew the attention of the President to section (6) (a) and (b) of the constitution which confers on the States and National Assemblies the powers to make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to the Local Councils in the federation and within the states respectively.

Similarly, the Governors added, Section 162 (6) expressly provides for the creation of the States Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) into which shall be paid all allocations to the LGAs of the State from the Federation Account and from the government of the state.

A statement issued on Sunday by Head, Media and Public Affairs at the NGF, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, quoted the NGF Chairman as having said that nothing in the NFIU Act (2018) gave the body the powers that it seeks to exercise in the guidelines that it released and is therefore acting in excess of its powers and by so doing, adding, NFIU has exhibited complete disregard of the constitution of Nigeria.

The NGF chairman further accused the NFIU of “stoking mischief and also deliberately seeking to cause disaffection, chaos and overheat the polity.”