Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the
\nFederal Government over \u201cfailure to release the names of suspected looters
\nand the circumstances under which recovered stolen public funds were
\nrecovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit filed last Friday at the Federal High Court Ikoyi followed a
\nFreedom of Information request to the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai
\nMuhammed asking him to use his good offices to \u201cprovide information about
\nthe names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were
\nrecovered and the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well
\nas the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.\u201d<\/p>\n
The originating summons with suit number FHC\/CS\/964\/2016 was brought
\npursuant to section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, and signed by
\nSERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni.<\/p>\n
Joined as Defendants in the suit are the Minister of Information Alhaji
\nLai Muhammed and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.<\/p>\n
The Plaintiff is arguing that, \u201cBy a letter with reference No
\nMJ\/FOI\/GEN\/014\/1\/54 and dated 21 June 2016, the Attorney General of the
\nFederation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN confirmed that the
\nFOI request by SERAP was brought to the attention of the Defendants for
\nhandling. However, since the receipt of the FOI request and the
\nconfirmation by Mr Malami that the request was brought to the attention of
\nthe Defendants for handling, and up till the filing of this suit, the
\nDefendants have so far failed, refused and\/or neglected to provide SERAP
\nwith the details of the information requested.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP is asking the court to determine the question \u201cWhether by virtue of
\nthe provision of section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the
\nDefendants are under an obligation to provide the Plaintiff with the
\ninformation requested for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit reads in part: \u201cBy virtue of Section 1(1) of the FOI Act 2011, \u201cThe information requested by SERAP does not come within the purview of \u201cThe Defendants will not suffer any injury or prejudice if the information \u201cWhile the suspects generally are entitled to be presumed innocent until \u201cIt is further submitted that the recoveries, specifically from Earlier in its FOI request the Plaintiff said that \u201cThe gravity of the \u201cSERAP believes that the right to truth allows Nigerians to gain access to SERAP is seeking the following reliefs:<\/p>\n A DECLARATION that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the 1.To widely disseminate including on a dedicated website information about No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.<\/p>\n It would be recalled that the Ministry of Information recently published Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Federal Government over \u201cfailure to release the names of suspected looters and the circumstances under which recovered stolen public funds were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthe Plaintiff is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to
\ninformation which is in the custody or possession of any public official,
\nagency or institution. Under the FOI, when a person makes a request for
\ninformation from a public official, institution or agency, the public
\nofficial, institution or agency to whom the application is under a binding
\nlegal obligation to provide the Plaintiff\/Applicant with the information
\nrequested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7 days<\/span><\/span>
\nafter the application is received.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthe types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the
\nFOI Act. The information requested for, apart from not being exempted from
\ndisclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an issue of National interest,
\npublic concern, social justice, good governance, transparency and
\naccountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nis released to the members of the public. It is in the interest of justice
\nthat the information be released. Unless the reliefs sought herein are
\ngranted, the Defendants will continue to be in breach of the Freedom of
\nInformation Act, and other statutory responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nproven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, the FOI Act implicitly
\nprohibits blanket non-disclosure of names of high-ranking public officials
\nfrom whom some of the funds were recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nhigh-ranking public officials (and not private individuals), are matters
\nof public interest. Publishing the names of those public officials will
\nprovide insights relevant to the public debate on the ongoing efforts to
\nprevent and combat a culture of grand corruption and the longstanding
\nimpunity of perpetrators in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ncrime of grand corruption, the devastating effects on the socially and
\neconomically vulnerable sectors of the population, and the fact that
\nrecovery of huge funds from high-ranking public officials entrusted with
\nthe public treasury raise a prima-facie case and therefore amount to
\nexceptional circumstances that justify naming those high-ranking officials
\nin the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ninformation essential to the fight against corruption and in turn
\ndevelopment of democratic institutions as well as provides a form of
\nreparation to victims of grand corruption in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFreedom of Information Act 2011, the Defendants are under a binding legal
\nobligation to provide the Plaintiff with up to date information relating
\nto the following:<\/p>\n
\nthe names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were
\nrecovered since May 2015
\n2.The circumstances under which stolen public funds were returned<\/p>\n
\ndetails of the recoveries, which showed that the Nigerian government
\nsuccessfully retrieved total cash amount N78,325,354,631.82,
\n$185,119,584.61, \u00a33,508,355.46 and \u20ac11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May
\n25, 2016. Also released were recoveries under interim forfeiture, which
\nwere a combination of cash and assets, during the same period:
\nN126,563,481,095.43, $9,090,243,920.15, \u00a32,484,447.55 and \u20ac303,399.17.
\nAnticipated repatriation from foreign countries totalled: $321,316,726.1,
\n\u00a36,900,000 and \u20ac11,826.11. The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash
\nrecoveries were made during the one-year period. The non-cash recoveries
\nare \u2013 farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed
\nbuildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"