It is the duty of the Accountant General, under section 6 of the Public Finance Act, “to take care that no payment is made which is not covered by the proper authority.”
It should not be possible for any payment to be made without an Appropriation Act or Supplementary Appropriation Act providing for expenditure from the Consolidated Fund. The provision of an explanatory memorandum from the office of the Attorney General to try to justify payments to members of the judiciary before a Supplementary Appropriation Act has been enacted does not speak the language of the Constitution. A Supplementary Appropriation Act comes before an expenditure is made not after an expenditure is made. Section 153 of the Constitution states that,
(1) Subject to section 154, if in respect of any financial year it is found that the amount appropriated under the Appropriation Act is insufficient or that a need has arisen for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by that Act, a supplementary estimate showing the sums required shall be laid before the National Assembly before the expenditure has been incurred.
It is abundantly clear that the Constitution does not authorize expenditure from the Consolidated Fund without a law providing for it. Any such action is unconstitutional. That is how matters stand.
