One major defect of our federalism is resource control. Resource control has consistently been discoursed and still under discussion by the Nigerian elites but the Nigerian government and lawmakers have been turning deaf ears to the yearning of many Nigerians. And recently, the Federal Government set to lay claim to Ibori loot, which by extension, is a wealth of Delta State.
It is quite unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has recently shown its unconsciousness towards the issues affecting the structure of Nigeria’s federalism.
Despite the consistent clamor for resource control, the Federal Government last month announced that the £4.2 million looted funds of Delta State was about to be returned by the UK Government and will be used to fund the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos Ibadan Expressway, and Abuja-Kano Road.
The most shocking thing about the narrative was that the statement was made by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Should we say the Senior Advocate of Nigeria is ignorant that the money does not belong to the Federal Government but resources of Delta State.
Malami’s statement has generated reactions from concerned Nigerians, and groups. Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, was one of the leading voices for the return of the money to Delta State.
While commending the Federal Government for negotiating and pursuing the return of the looted fund to Nigeria, he had insisted that the money should be returned to its source.
“Since the money left the coffers of the Delta State Government, it has to be returned once it is recovered,” Falana said during an appearance on Channels Television “Politics Today”.
Malami in his defense argued that the Federal Government is the victim of the crime and not sub-national.
“The major consideration relating to who is entitled to a fraction or perhaps the money in its entirety is a function of law and international diplomacy,
“All the processes associated with the recovery were consummated by the federal government and the federal government is, indeed, the victim of crime and not sub-national,” the Attorney-General of the Federation argued.
But Falana argued that the victims in the case are the people of Delta state and its government.
“The Federal Government ought to be commended for pursuing this matter having regards to the fact that this case is a collaboratory issue between the EFCC under Malami/Ribadu and the Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom,” he said.
The senior lawyer added that “Having acknowledged the role of the Federal Government, the fund has to return to the source. As the Attorney General has said, the money is over £100 million. So what has been released now is the first tranche of £4.2 million.
“Since the money left the coffers of the Delta State Government, it has to be returned once it is recovered.”
The rights activist cited Article 35 of the United Nations Convention that is ratified by the United Kingdom and Nigeria, which stated that any proceeds from corruption should be expended on the victims.
He had maintained that the money left the coffer of the state that therefore, the people and government of Delta state are the said victims.
Also, the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, after debating the fund, passed a resolution and called on the Federal Government to return the money into the account of the state government.
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) then commended the House of Representatives for the resolution it passed and faulted the Federal Government for its decision to spend the money on its projects.
The narrative became unfortunate when the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, disclosed that the state has given the Federal Government two options.
“We have made two suggestions; return the money directly to us or apply it directly to projects that we feel are of importance and are in Delta State so that Deltans can directly benefit from the repatriated funds and I don’t think anybody can fault that line (of thinking)”, he said.
The idea of the state government asking the Federal Government to spend directly on projects that are of importance to the people of the state and are in the state has, by reasoning, justified the argument of the Federal Government to spend the looted fund on Second Niger Bridge.
This is because the Federal Government can actually claim that the Second Niger Bridge started from Asaba, the Delta State capital and that directly affected the people of the state.
