A lawsuit has been filed against the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike at the federal high court by the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project ( SERAP).
In addition to the lawsuit, the 36 state governors were also sued as a result of 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.
SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare disclosed in a statement that the group asked the court to “direct 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.
On behalf of SERAP, the suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/592/2024 was filed by Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Valentina Adegoke at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suit followed SERAP’s demand which was addressed to the 37 respondents in a statement issued on March 31, 2024, after Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, had bemoaned the huge debt inherited from his predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, last year.
Based on the statement, the group wants the court to compel the governors and Mr. Wike to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the spending of all the loans obtained to date by their states and the FCT.
According to the SERAP, “the opacity in spending of the loans obtained by the governors and Mr. Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens.”
As a result of this, SERAP demands transparency in the spending of the loans as they are fundamental to increase accountability, prevent corruption, and increase the level of trust in democratic institutions to strengthen the rule of law.
