ABUJA — A full panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered two ex-ministers in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government to refund, with immediate effect, a total N206 million to the coffers of the Federal Government, being excess of salaries drawn by them while holding office.

The affected public officers are former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former External Affairs minister, Ambassador Olufemi Adeniji.
The court yesterday also blasted President Olusegun Obasanjo’s decision to approve different salary scale for the two ministers.

According to the court, Obasanjo’s action amounted to an abuse of his powers under the law and an irresponsible infraction of the laws of the land.

The duo of Iweala and Adeniji were signed on as ministers by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and placed on salaries and allowances much above what other ministers in his cabinet received.

Besides, the jumbo salaries and allowances were not only paid to them in foreign currency but were also paid into their foreign accounts.

The decision by President Obasanjo to pay them in dollars conflicts with the provision of the Code of Conduct for public officers which frowns against maintenance of foreign accounts while holding public office.

The approval of different salary scale for the two ex-ministers also offends an Act of the National Assembly tagged “Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act No 6 of 2002 which prescribes a yearly salary of N794,085.00 for every minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .

For instance, Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance was placed on an annual salary of $247,000 translating to N36million (per annum) contrary to an annual salary of N794,085.00k prescribed for every minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .

Her counterpart, Olufemi Adeniji was placed on an annual salary of $120,000 translating into N17million, also contrary to the annual salary prescribed for Federal ministers in the country.
Lagos lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) was not comfortable with the decision of President Olusegun Obasanjo, approving a different salary scale for the ministers and came to court to challenge the decision which the President called state policy vide an originating summons.

The case was assigned to Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal high court, Abuja by the then Administrative Judge of the court, Justice Stephen Jonah Adah.

He first formulated a couple of constitutional questions for court to determine.
In the event the court answers the questions in his favour, he urged the trial judge to grant him six reliefs including:

*A declaration that the purported authorization by the President to the effect that the salaries of Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and External Affairs Minister, Mr Olufemi Adeniji be paid in foreign currencies was unconstitutional and amounted to an abuse of office;

*A declaration that the yearly salary of USD247,000 (about N36 million) being paid to the 3rd defendant, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , the Federal Minister of Finance is a flagrant violation of Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances , etc) Act No 6 of 2002 which prescribes a yearly salary of N794,085,00 for every Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

*A declaration that the yearly salary of USD120,000 (about N17 million) being paid to the 4th defendant Ambassador Olufemi Adeniji , Federal Minister for External Affairs is a flagrant violation of Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances , etc) Act No. 6 of 2002 which prescribes a yearly salary of N794, 085 .00 for every Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and

An order compelling the 3rd and 4th defendants to stop the Federal Government of Nigeria, its agents, servants, privies or howsoever called particularly the 1st defendant from paying Ministers or any other public officers covered by certain political, public and judicial office holders’ salaries and allowances etc Act No 6 of 2002 outside the salaries prescribed in the said Act.

He foresaw that his locus standi to institute the action challenging the policy of the government as it related to the fixing of different salary scale for the two minister and had to plead that he came to court to ensure that the rule of law prevailed in the country.

He told the court that as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who swore to defend the constitution, he said he has the right to institute legal action whenever there is a breach of the constitution.

True to his prediction, the Federal Government did not file any defence but brought a preliminary objection challenging his locus standi to institute the suit.
Chief Kola Awodein (SAN) was given the fiat by the Federal Government to prosecute the case.

In the objection filed by Chief Kola Awodein (SAN) on behalf of the Federal Government, he said that Fawehinmi has no locus standi (legal right) to institute the action since he has not been able to show sufficient interest or threat of injury he would suffer in the matter if the case was not heard by the court.

He had also argued that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case as constituted, saying that the facts of the matter fell under section 16 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which relates to fundamental objectives and state policy.

Replying the government, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) said that the court had jurisdiction to hear any matter relating to the breach of the constitution, saying that the case was in respect of the infringement of the constitution regarding the salaries of the two ministers.

Besides, he said that he is a tax payer and that if he did not have locus to challenge the government on what it is using the tax payers’ money to do, he wondered who would have locus.

Both parties, after submission of arguments, were given a return date for ruling.
Justice Nyarko threw out Gani’s case on the grounds that he had no locus to challenge the policy of the Federal Government.

Undaunted, Gani went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the verdict of the trial court and also invited the court to invoke Section 16 of the Court of Appeal Act to decide the merit of the case once and for all in the interest of justice.

The Court of Appeal heard the case and held yesterday, in a 50-page judgment that the trial court was wrong to have declined jurisdiction.
The court further held that if a tax payer lacked the jurisdiction to challenge the action of government, it asked rhetorically who would.

After deciding the issue of locus in favour of Chief Gani, the court said it was of the opinion that “this is a proper case where this court will invoke its powers under section 16 of the Court of Appeal Act and grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiff\appellant in his originating summons.”

The court said that since the Federal Government failed to file any counter-affidavit at the court below, it said that it was assumed that all the facts pleaded in the case were admitted as correct.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal granted all the prayers sought in the case and ordered the two affected ministers to pay back all the monies in excess of the salaries approved by law for Federal Ministers in the country.

The case is however one of several public interest litigations Chief Gani is pursuing at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f121072007.html

Another stupid move by the judicial system, if this people were under contract and their salary was approved, why do they haver to return the salary that was justify and paid to them? was this not equivalent to what they were making abroad? Why do we pay oil workers $ in Nigeria. I am getting tired of this country and all this melodrama

@mamajama,

The issue is the laws of the land. Was the law of the land violated? Yes! Is there any section of the law that says the FG has the priviledge to enter into a contract that violates this particular law? Apparently No. If we do not obey the laws of the land in little things, we will definitely raise our noses against the bigger ones.

A big abuse of the law and an impediment to future recruitment of foreign based Nigerians.

The ruling should have either compelled the government to level the playing field for other ministers, pay back the alleged sum, or even prohibited future hiring or paying of salary in foreign currency.

These ministers actually lost money returning to serve in naija.

I know a friend with $500k gross who went to earn $125K in a naija parastatal, I'll see if he too is asked to pay back his salary.

Anyway, so much for returning home to contribute.

I was particularly disturbed by Okonjo Iweala. A finance minister who refused her country's currency as legal tender.

Agreed these guys may have had some reduction in income in coming to work in Nigeria but it still did not change the fact that the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which the belong to and where they came to work , was violated.

When it comes to working, you either accept or refuse the working conditions existing there. These two Ministers are Nigerians and they were not better human beings or more intelligent than the other ministers. While Okonjo tried a bit for Nigeria, I honestly don't know what Adeniji achieved, yet he got paid some $120,000 yearly just because he came from the US

What the govt could have done would have been to employ them as consultants or contractors except that they won't have been able to achieve as much ( I am talking about Okonjo, not Adeniji who did nothing)
because they would lack  the ministerial influence and power

There are lots of Nigerians who have schooled and worked abroad and return to Nigeria to earn the same salaries as their Nigerian counterparts. Are these not humans as well ?

What the government ought do is create an enabling environment for both Nigerians at home and in diaspora to come to work and not to give those in diaspora preferencial treatment.

If the salary you are offered is not good enough for you, don't come back.

Having said this,  I don't think the ex- ministers should pay back the money, instead the Fed Govt. which erred should be made to do the refund.

Without pretending to be more patriotic than others, the fact is that every job and consequent pay has to obey some form of market forces.

If a government anywhere in the World offers me an x amt of money for a y amt of job, it does not make sense to go back and start quoting some constitution that should have been quoted when the deal was been struck in the first place.

Yes, some people may want to work for naija for a penny, kudos to them, but people who put in an honest work should be paid the agreed upon sum.

Whether you are one of the 5 world pediatric reconstructive cardiothoracic surgeon making $1.8-2M in LA or Atlanta, or you're a gifted soccer player making $1M in Europe, the naija government ought to attempt to pay you what your are worth, without fearing that a court would turn around and penalize in the future.

You just can't force an individual to loose his or her level of income all in the name patrotism, and so that politicians will have enough to steal.
If you can't afford the person who earns $1m yearly, then you move on. I am sure Okonjo-Iwuala did not lobby for her job, instead OBJ lobbied her out of the World bank.

Naija people no dey understand salary. That's why the government can afford to owe people for more than 2 months without pay, and yet there will be no riot.

If you earn every kobo of your salary, there is no way someone could hold on to it without expecting a revolution. Period.

If a government anywhere in the World offers me an x amt of money for a y amt of job, it does not make sense to go back and start quoting some constitution that should have been quoted when the deal was been struck in the first place.

The court judement was right and correct. OBJ screwed-up!



All ministers of Nigeria must earn same amount thats what the consitution says!

what he should have done, is hire these people as consultants and can pay them any amount.

They will be consultant with 'silent power' above the minister in the ministry they plan to reform and will report to direct to President.

In this way there would have been no abuse of office or going against Nigeria constitution.

Better still they can add to constitution; that ministers can earn different amounts but must give what critearia will determine such amount

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, for OBJ, for the 2 people involved, and for future foreign appointees.

This is a case of breach of contract on Nigerian part, if this two individuals were foreign contractors hired by the Federal government, will they be asked to refund the money? absolutely not, This act is what will discourage experts from returning to help build the nation. You have two individual that performed in the ministries and now they are been persecuted while the actionless governors were stealing billions of naira. This is disheartening.

It is a pity that Okonjo-Iweala and Adeniji got caught up in this, but laws were broken in the first place. It is clearly against the constitution to pay these people in dollars and above all other minsters.

Even if they could have easily earned these money in their foreign jobs, serving ones own country is a sacrifice and patriotic deal, not a for money venture.
They were apid these monies and need to return them.

This is another example of what mess Obasanjo made of Nigeria. We will for years try to clean up the monumental inconsistencies of this 'old thief'!

I agree with u bankole. its unfortunate but then need to deal with it

Why Okonjo-Iweala will walk scot free

There is no point drawing conclusions by reading the surface value of the constitution. Iweala will appeal her case and she will win. This country has failed a lot of people and they are fed up with the system, call it unpatriotism or whatever but everybody has the right to choose where their loyalty lies.

Yes Okonjo-Iweala's office was designated as Minister of Finance just to accomodate her within the structure of Government in place but the fact remains that she was a hired gun. In essence she was not just appointed Minister just like every other Minister, she was hired on some contract terms (which includes her pay package) and that was necessary to lure her out of her job in World Bank at the time to become Finance Minister.

She did her job. Designed an economic blueprint that saw us secure debt relief, in general she manged the macro-economics of this Nation excellently. Half-way through her job she became emotionally attached to this country once again and renegotiated her pay to Naira, may be she saw that the administration were actually serious with what they planned to achieve and changed her mind out of her own volition.

The money she was paid in dollars she earned by her work, a contract signed by the President of this country who thought at the time that our economy was imploding if drastic measures were not taken and she could revive it. It does not matter what anybody thinks right now out of hindsight, the money paid to her was lawful and the judgement by that court will be overturned.

This woman was humiliated out of office inspite of her work because of the kind of politics that obtains in this country, her marriage almost got destroyed because of the time she spent here, I don't think she needs another humiliation from the justice system.

why was she paid in dollars in the first place? was she working for the united states government?
[s]and with all that money na ABC wax the woman dey wear! [/s]

When it comes to working, you either accept or refuse the working conditions existing there.

I thought you are meant to negotiate your pay and if the other party says yes you sign contract and get on with the job, these people*- okonji is not really a politician she's a technocrat. if anything OBJ should refund the money because he signed the contract

because that salary was approved by the president doesnt mean it was right in the first place. does she have 2 heads?

I think a lot of people are yet to figure out what it means to be President.

because you are president doesnt make you infalliable! it doesnt mean you can make or break rules at will. those salaries that got approved were salaries nigeria could ill afford to pay!

The whole thing is just silly.

I am sure they could still have employed them in another capacity while still paying them the sums they got.

Would have saved us from all this wahala.

True but in a way it will be like a remote control thing, you'll probably be paying a junior or less experienced staff who will received orders from the sidelines. And you know how things are in naija they'll be some conflicts esp with people that have gigantic egos

Nigerians need to wake from slumber

Is it not better to pay someone huge sums and they work honestly than to pay them pea nuts and they loot mega sums at the end of the day?

What Okonjo-Iweala earned as Finance Minister dollar+Naira will in no way near 1/10th of what Adamu Ciroma made from 1999-2003.

I dont know how it works in Nigeria, but in other constituencies e.g America and Britain
the coterie of officials and special advisers wield a lot of power. Their salaries are quite arbitrary as well especially in the Uk.

This sort of arrangement would have been apt here.

Being in charge herself will be more effective than giving orders from the sidelines
her presence as an experienced professional indicate the commitment of the gov. to revamp the economy
to Nigerians and the world.
It's better to have the real brains take owner responsibilty than have a stooge who might not welcome or support
policies from the sideline. in many cases they'll do anything to rubbish that persons reputation with the help of pm news sun newspaper and co

I honestly do not know why fingers are pointing to Iweala and co. If there is any one liable of breaking the law here, it has to be OBJ. He was not forced to pay them the said amount in the said currency, neither did Iweala steal the money from the FG. She stated her worth and OBJ complied. If by complying some law was broken then fingers should be pointing towards OBJ and not Iweala. Na wa for this country oooooo!!!! Refund ke!!!!!

I was so shocked to see the news o. We won't stop seeing wonders in our land
my people. Naija na wa. How will they enforce the rule now?

I am waiting to see another round of magic unfold itself. But the truth is that the
culprit is Baba Iyabo himself. He paid the said amount and no one force him to do it.

Maybe Iweala should be let off the hook, but that Adeniji should be made to pay o.
What did he achieve sef to take all that money?

beetintin:

I was so shocked to see the news o. We won't stop seeing wonders in our land
my people. Naija na wa. How will they enforce the rule now?

I am waiting to see another round of magic unfold itself. But the truth is that the
culprit is Baba Iyabo himself. He paid the said amount and no one force him to do it.

Maybe Iweala should be let off the hook, but that [b]Adeniji should be made to pay o.[/b]What did he achieve sef to take all that money?

Nobody should (or for that matter could) be made to refund any money. Not Iweala and certainly not Adeniji. However, they could be probed and investigated and if as much as a string of cobweb is found in thier cupboard, then they should be charged with incompetency or corruption or both.
As for Baba Iyabo, I beg I no fit shout!!!!

What a ridiculous insult. This will teach respectable people employed abroad not to invest their time in Nigeria.

_coughs Excuse me

There are system administrators in the US who earn more than what the woman was earning.

@Seun

Thanks for helping me make this point.

Whoever wonders why the sun don't rise from the east, and law of gravity is not obeyed in Nigeria, here you are.

Honest servants like Okonjo and Adeniji have been ordered to refund their salaries, while criminal politicians who have apperently milked the nation dry are walking the streets.

Only in naija.

As has been noted above Okonjo-Iweala did not lobby for her post but was lobbied by the government. That not withstanding she deserves every cent she got for the immense contribution she made.

At issue here though is the apparent violation of the constitution, a way around it would have been to pay her the stipulated ministerial salary like everyone else, and the balance as a consultancy fee to any company of her choice worldwide.

The govt. has legal advisers who's job it is to point this out to the presidency and proposed a clever way around it. Afterall, we all know how ingenious they can be when it comes to other issues!

she shouldnt have to pay the salary back.
it was already approved and thats not her problem. but this should be a lesson. no one is above the law. i know salaries are determined somewhat by location. she cant be living in nigeria and be getting paid what someone who lives in the u.s and spends in the u.s receives. that makes it very unbalanced.