{"id":104926,"date":"2023-05-21T14:48:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T13:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=104926"},"modified":"2023-05-21T14:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T13:48:20","slug":"failed-abuja-cctv-project-court-orders-buhari-govt-to-account-for-460m-chinese-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/failed-abuja-cctv-project-court-orders-buhari-govt-to-account-for-460m-chinese-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"Failed Abuja CCTV project: Court orders Buhari govt to account for $460m Chinese loan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Federal High Court in Abuja last week ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to \u201caccount for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The Court also ordered the government to \u201cpublish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors and specific details of the names of the companies and contractors and status of the implementation of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite made the orders while delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1447\/2019 brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).<\/p>\n

The suit followed the disclosure in 2019 by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed that \u201cNigeria was servicing the loan\u201d, adding that she had \u2018no explanations on the status of the project.\u2019 She reportedly said, \u201cWe are servicing the loan. I have no information on the status of the CCTV project.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his judgment, Justice Nwite agreed with SERAP that \u201cthere is a reasonable cause of action against the government. Accounting for the spending of the $460 million Chinese loan is in the interest of the public. It will be inimical for the court to refuse SERAP\u2019s application for judicial review of the government\u2019s action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Nwite also said that, \u201cThe Minister of Finance is in charge of the finance of the country and cannot by any stretch of imagination be oblivious of the amount of money paid to the contractors for the Abuja CCTV contract and the money meant for the construction of the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Nwite also ordered the government \u201cto provide the details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5 billion Naira paid for the failed contract meant to construct the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was part of another loan obtained from China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Nwite\u2019s judgment, read in part: \u201cSERAP\u2019s core objectives are to promote human rights, transparency and accountability and anticorruption in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am of the humble view that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government [through the Minister of Finance] and I so hold that SERAP has made out a case to be entitled to the reliefs sought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law is well settled that where a document or letter is sent by post, it is the law that same is taken or presumed to have been delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing this principle of law and relying on exhibit OS2, SERAP\u2019s Freedom of Information request sent to Ms Ahmed is deemed to have delivered. Therefore, the averment by the government [through her] that they were not served with the letter is hereby discountenance. I so hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joined as defendants in the suit are Ms Ahmed and the Minister of Police Affairs.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Federal High Court in Abuja last week ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to \u201caccount for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFailed Abuja CCTV project: Court orders Buhari govt to account for $460m Chinese loan - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/failed-abuja-cctv-project-court-orders-buhari-govt-to-account-for-460m-chinese-loan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Failed Abuja CCTV project: Court orders Buhari govt to account for $460m Chinese loan - 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