(L-R) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, MD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, discussing with Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, governor of River State, at the investiture of the governor as Daily Independent's Man of the Year 2010 award, in Lagos.

LEGAL fireworks may soon start at the Supreme Court between the 36 states and the federal government over the establishment of the National Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) from where as much as $600 million would be invested as equity offshore, BusinessWorld Intelligence can reveal.
There are indications that the legal onslaught may be led by Rivers State government, whose governor. Chibike Rotimi Amaechi, has indicated the preparedness to fight the resolution establishing the fund from all fronts. Amaech said  Rivers State   government highly objects  to the decision  and has accordingly   instructed the state government’s lawyers to prepare  to go tao court.
He said,  the federal government  can  go elsewhere to look for money to fund the so called  National Sovereign Wealth Fund   but  not money that belong to the Nigerian people. He noted that it is wrong to deny Nigerians of as much as $600 million in the pretext that the country is saving for future generations.
He noted that for NSWF to replace the obtuse Excess Crude Oil Fund (EXCOF) is an anomaly as far as the nation’s law is concerned.
The EXCOF, as it was called, was dreamed up under the previous administration as a stop gap stabilization fund to basically cushion the effect of the volatile oil revenue in Nigeria.
Over $3.8 trillion, mostly from commodity rich countries, are under management of Sovereign Wealth Funds (NSWF) across the world.  SWFs do not just serve economic functions, but can also be important tools in diplomacy. Nigeria is the only oil bearing state that does not have a NSWF.
Amaechi  said the fund  will amount to robbing Peter to pay Paul. “We do not want it. They should go and get the money from elsewhere. .After all,  we pay for Educational Trust Fund”, he warned.
The governor, who expressed faith in the Nigerian judiciary, said  he was  happy that God  has answered  his prayers to force  Mr. Godswill Akpabio,  governor of Akwa Ibom State  to release  the  oil wells belonging  to   River State  following  the ruling of the  Supreme Court, which last Friday ordered the government of Akwa Ibom State to transfer to Rivers State 86 oil wells with revenues which accrued from the wells beginning from April, 2009.
In a unanimous judgment in Abuja, seven justices of the apex court with  Justice Katsina-Alu, Chief Justice of Nigeria, presiding ,held that Akwa Ibom was bound by an agreement which it signed with the government of Rivers State. With the judgement, Akwa Ibom will have to refund money running into billions of naira to the River State government.
The agreement which was supervised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo saw the states agreeing to a political solution to the dispute. The agreement was supposed to provide a lasting solution to the recurrence of dispute among the two states.
Former governors Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State and Peter Odili of Rivers State were the signatories to the agreement. Attah’s successor-in-office, Governor Godswill Akpabio had kicked against the political arrangement in 2007 and persuaded the Federal Government  to return the 86 oil wells to Akwa Ibom.
Akwa Ibom unilaterally repudiated the agreement and started receiving the revenues accruing from these oil wells. Odili’s successor-in-office, Governor Rotimi Amaechi cried foul and challenged the return of the oil wells to Akwa Ibom first  at the Federal High Court and later at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgement in the suit Friday, Justice  Katisna-Alu held that Akwa Ibom was bound by the agreement because its former governor was a signatory to the agreement of 31st October, 2006 yielding the 86 oil wells to Rivers.