The Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Nigeria’s 36 state governments and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum against the federal government regarding the management of recovered stolen assets. The ruling, delivered on May 23, 2025, by a seven-justice panel in Abuja, ended the states’ demand for transparency and sharing of over ₦1.8 trillion in cash and assets recovered between 2015 and 2021.
The states had accused the federal government of illegally withholding these funds, which include cash, vehicles, properties, and crude oil, claiming they were diverted away from the Federation Account into other federal government-controlled accounts. They challenged the legality of newly created accounts such as the Asset Recovery Account and the Interim Forfeiture Recovery Account, insisting that all recovered assets should be shared among the federal, state, and local governments according to the Constitution.
The states sought a Supreme Court order to have the funds returned to the Federation Account and to compel the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to establish clear guidelines for distributing recovered assets.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that it was not the proper venue for the case, declaring that only the Federal High Court has the authority to hear such matters. Justice Mohammed Idris, reading the judgment authored by Justice Chidiebere Uwa, emphasized that the suit was wrongly brought before the apex court and should have started at a lower court level.
