The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit against the governors of the 36 states of the Federation, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over their failure to account for, and publish the agreements of the N5.9 trillion and $4.6 billion loans obtained by their states and the FCT, respectively.<\/p>\n
The suit, numbered FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/592\/2024 was filed on Friday on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers \u2013 Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Valentina Adegoke, at the Federal High Court, Abuja.<\/p>\n
The statement, which was made available to Pointblanknews.com on Sunday, asked the court to \u201cdirect and compel the governors and Mr. Wike to account for N5.9trn and $4.6bn loans obtained by their states and the FCT and to publish copies of the loan agreements, location of projects executed with the loans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit is a sequel to SERAP\u2019s demand which was addressed to the 37 respondents in a statement issued by the organisation\u2019s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare on March 31, 2024.<\/p>\n
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that \u201cit is in the public interest to grant the reliefs sought. Nigerians have the right to see and scrutinise the loan agreements and know the details of how the domestic and external loans obtained by the governors and FCT minister are spent.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpacity in the spending of the loans obtained by the governors and Mr. Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement noted that many states, including the FCT, \u201creportedly\u201d spend \u201cpublic funds which may include the loans obtained by them to fund unnecessary travels, buy exotic and bulletproof cars and generally fund the lavish lifestyles of politicians,\u201d adding that they are \u201callegedly mismanaging public funds which may include domestic and external loans obtained from bilateral and multilateral institutions and agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organisation demanded transparency in the spending of the loans as they are \u201cfundamental to increase accountability, prevent corruption, and build trust in democratic institutions with the ultimate aim of strengthening the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement equally noted that the state governors and the FCT minister \u201ccannot hide under the excuse that the Freedom of Information Act is not applicable to their states and the FCT.\u201d<\/p>\n
It stated that the \u201clegal obligations to publish the information sought are also imposed by the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
While no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit, SERAP lamented that the poverty rate, underdevelopment and lack of access to public goods and services in the country are a result of the \u201cmany years of allegations of corruption and mismanagement of public funds including the loans obtained by the states and FCT.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP quoted the Debt Management Office, saying, \u201cThe total public domestic debt portfolio for the country\u2019s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory is N5.9 trillion. The total public external debt portfolio is $4.6 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, SERAP said that the loans \u2013 domestic and external, as obtained by the states and the FCT are\u201d vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement,\u201d hence, the respondents \u201chave a responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how any loans obtained by the states and FCT are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and\u00a0mismanagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit against the governors of the 36 states of the Federation, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n