Why Southern leaders slammed N50bn suit against Buhari

First Civilian Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife has explained that Southern and Middle Belt leaders slammed a N50 billion lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari to salvage the nation.

The Herald had reported how Ezeife and 15 other leaders under the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) instituted the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The leaders claimed that Buhari since the commencement of his administration in 2015 has pursued a policy of marginalisation of the South by skewing his appointments in favour of the North in breach of the 1999 Constitution and the Federal Character Principle.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/595/2020, they are praying, among others, the court to declare as reckless and adverse to the interest of Nigeria the Buhari administration’s decision to obtain a loan facility from the Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, China, Japan, and Germany amounting to $22.7 billion (USD), for infrastructural development, only to allocate the bulk of the fund to the Northern region.

The suit is being filed by a consortium of lawyers comprising 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) and Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

Commenting on the suit, Ezeife said it was instituted not only to win, but to retrieve Nigeria from the present lawlessness of the leadership.

Speaking to Daily Sun on the plaintiffs’ expectations from the suit, Ezeife said, “A reversal of the situation and obedience to the constitution. The constitution provides for federal character, but the present government is doing nepotism only. If it is not nepotism, it is religious bigotry. So the present government is not obeying the constitution of the land and we want them to be obeying the constitution.

“I can understand that it been too long to now bring a suit, but we have been complaining and we are saying that Nigerians should see what is happening. It is not just going to court to win. Maybe it is too late, maybe the end is too near. We don’t know. We want to retrieve Nigeria. We have something in the constitution called federal character, but now, there is nothing like federal character, whether it is by appointment or project, and there is the National Assembly which has failed to live up to responsibilities,”