Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, dragged the President Bola Tinubu government before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, “over the failure to publish spending details of the loans obtained by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.”
Also joined as respondents in the suit are Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, and the Debt Management Office, DMO.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/353/2024 filed on Friday, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel the Tinubu government to publish the loan agreements obtained by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.”
SERAP is further asking the court to “direct and compel the Tinubu government to publish the spending details of any such loans, including the interests and other payments so far made on the loans.”
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “No one should be able to pull curtains of secrecy around decisions on the spending of public funds which can be revealed without injury to the public interest. Democracy requires accountability and accountability requires transparency.”
SERAP contends that “The Tinubu government should make it possible for citizens to have access to the agreements and spending details to judge whether their government is working for them or not.”
According to SERAP, “The information may help to explain why, despite several billions of dollars in loans obtained by successive governments, millions of Nigerians continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.”
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SERAP argue that, “Nigerians’ right to a democratic governance allows them to appreciably influence the direction of government, and have an opportunity to assess progress and assign blame.”
According to it, “The accountability of government to the general public is a hallmark of democratic governance, which Nigeria seeks to achieve.”
SERAP’s suit filed by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Andrew Nwankwo, contends that, “Publishing the loan agreements would improve public accountability in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
“Nigerians are entitled to information about what their government is doing in their name. This is part of their right to information.
“Publishing the agreements and spending details would allow the public to see how and on what these governments spent the loans and foster transparency and accountability.”
“Publishing the loan agreements signed by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and widely publishing the agreements would allow Nigerians to scrutinise it and to demand accountability for the spending of the loans.
“According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, the total public domestic debt portfolio for the country’s is N97.3 trillion ($108 billion). The Federal Government’s debt is N87.3 trillion ($97 billion).”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
