The Supreme Court yesterday (Thursday) adjourned till February 14 next year hearing in the suit filed by 16 northern governors seeking the apex court order to compel the federal government to pay them N7.3 billion as outstanding value of the assets of the defunct Northern States Marketing Board (NSMB).

The apex court's five-man panel headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar adjourned hearing in the matter after it was mentioned.

The board was taken over by the Federal Government in 1977 from Northern states.

The 16 plaintiffs are the attorney Generals of –Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara States. The plaintiffs are suing the AGF as representatives of the governments of their respective States.

The Northern States headed for the Supreme Court to redress alleged lack of equity in the distribution of the nation's resources as other regions had been paid for their assets.

The plaintiffs said that in 1977, the then Federal Military Government (FMG) forcefully took over the assets of NSMB by virtue of Decree No. 29 of 1977.

They said the then Supreme Military Council stated that the Federal Government would pay for the assets of the NSMB and the assets of any other commodity boards.

According to them, before the assets were transferred to the FG, a valuation was carried out which put the total value of all the assets at N42 million.

They said: "Out of the said N42 million, only N1.1 million was paid to the NSMB by the defendant leaving a balance of N40 million." They put the cost of immovable assets and produce taken over at N11 million and N18 million respectively.

Bags, tarpaulin and twine as well as cotton stores complexes allegedly taken over were put at N2 million.

The states said that as at July 27, 1983, the Federal Government admitted owing them N10.3 million which when converted using the prevailing exchanging rate (N150.00 to $1) was put at N3 billion.