Posted by A lawsuit has been filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against Nigeria’s oil-producing states for allegedly failing to “account for the spending of the oil derivation refunds of N625 billion recently paid to them by the Federal Government, including details and locations of projects executed with the money.”
Kolawale Oluwadare, the organization’s deputy director, revealed this to kuryaloaded in a statement on Sunday.
Recent oil derivation refund payments of N625.43 billion were made by the federal government to the governors of the states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Ondo, Imo, and Cross River.
The payments covered SURE-P refunds, subsidies, and oil derivation payments of 13 percent. Refunds were made between 1999 and 2021.
SERAP is seeking the Federal High Court in Abuja to “direct and compel the governors to reveal and extensively publicize the details of spending of the oil derivation refunds, subsidy, and SURE-P reimbursements” in the lawsuit with the case number FHC/ABJ/CS/2371/2022 that was filed last Friday.
Additionally, SERAP is requesting that the court “order President Muhammadu Buhari to direct anti-corruption agencies to thoroughly investigate the expenditure of the public funds collected by the governors and, where appropriate, ensure the prosecution of suspected corrupt individuals and the recovery of corrupt activity proceeds.”
“The Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights put transparency duties on the governors to reveal the spending of the oil derivation refunds, subsidy, and SURE-P reimbursements,” SERAP claims in the lawsuit.
Additionally, SERAP claims that “State governors cannot use the justification that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to their states as a shield. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution place explicit legal responsibilities on the governors to submit the information.
“It is in the public interest and in the interest of justice to grant this application,” claims SERAP. Nigerians have a legally protected and widely acknowledged right to information.
Nigerians have a right to know specifics about how public funds are being used, and this right is supported by the fundamental democratic concept. The right to information for citizens encourages accountability, openness, and transparency, all of which are essential for the nation’s democratic system.
The public interest in learning about the costs associated with refunds, according to SERAP, trumps all other interests. The supervision provided by the public’s access to such information would help to prevent abuses of the public’s trust and serve as a vital check on the governors’ actions.
The Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the nation’s international obligations all rest on the tenet that citizens should have access to information about their government’s activities, according to the lawsuit that SERAP’s attorneys Kolawole Oluwadare and Valentina Adegoke filed on its behalf.
Nigerians would be able to examine the expenditure of the refunds and keep track of it to make sure that the money is not being wasted, diverted, or stolen if the spending of the oil derivation refunds, subsidy refunds, and SURE-P refunds were made public.
“Under the 13 percent derivation budget, Bayelsa received N92.2 billion, Akwa-Ibom earned N128 billion, and Abia State received N4.8 billion. Cross River received a refund of N1.3 billion, while Delta State received N110 billion, Edo State N11.3 billion, Imo State N5.5 billion, Ondo State N19.4 billion, and Rivers State N103.6 billion.