{"id":113057,"date":"2024-07-07T21:25:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T20:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=113057"},"modified":"2024-07-07T21:25:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T20:25:06","slug":"court-orders-buharis-minister-to-account-for-n729bn-payment-to-poor-nigerians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-orders-buharis-minister-to-account-for-n729bn-payment-to-poor-nigerians\/","title":{"rendered":"Court orders Buhari\u2019s minister to account for N729bn payment to poor Nigerians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to account for payments of N729bn to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months.<\/div>\n
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\nThe court also ordered the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered, and the payments per state.<\/p>\n

The judgement was delivered in June by Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC\/L\/CS\/853\/2021, brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.<\/p>\n

The certified true copy of the judgement was obtained last Friday by the organisation.<\/p>\n

In his judgement, Justice Dipeolu held that \u201cThe former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person, including SERAP. I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Dipeolu ordered the minister to \u201cprovide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge also ordered the minister to \u201cexplain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigeria\u2019s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

She ruled that \u201cthe minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has, in line with sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act, prayed this Court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Dipeolu dismissed the objections raised by the minister\u2019s counsel and upheld SERAP\u2019s arguments.<\/p>\n

Consequently, the court entered judgement in favour of SERAP against the minister.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the judgement, SERAP\u2019s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the ruling was a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThis ground-breaking judgment is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice Dipeolu\u2019s judgment shows the urgent need for the Tinubu government to genuinely address the systemic allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and other ministries, departments and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commend Justice Dipeolu for her courage and wisdom and urge President Bola Tinubu to immediately obey the court orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the letter dated July 6, 2024, sent to President Bola Tinubu on the judgement, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation asked him to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile with the ruling.<\/p>\n

The organisation also asked the President to order the release of the spending details of the N729 billion as ordered by the court.<\/p>\n

It reads, \u201cWe urge you to demonstrate your expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge you to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile and release the spending details of the N729 billion as ordered by the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment by your government will be a victory for the rule of law, transparency, and accountability in the governance processes and management of public resources, including the N729 billion.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to account for payments of N729bn to 24.3 million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt orders Buhari\u2019s minister to account for N729bn payment to poor Nigerians - 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\/court-orders-buharis-minister-to-account-for-n729bn-payment-to-poor-nigerians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court orders Buhari\u2019s minister to account for N729bn payment to poor Nigerians - 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