The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and four Nigerian citizens have filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu’s administration for failing to release the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The audit, ordered in 2019 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, reportedly exposed the disappearance of ₦6 trillion from the NDDC between 2001 and 2019. SERAP claims the report implicates top government officials and politicians.
The lawsuit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, was filed last Friday at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja. Plaintiffs include Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.
A declaration that withholding the report violates Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.A court order compelling the government to release the report.
Mandates for increased transparency and accountability in NDDC spending.
SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare noted that recent allegations, including one by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, revealed that a former minister’s wife received ₦48 billion over a year allegedly for training Niger Delta women — further underscoring the need for public access to the report.
The government’s refusal to publish the report undermines the rule of law, accountability, and citizens’ participation.
Access to information is guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article @ 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Nigeria has ratified.
They emphasized that while some limits to access are permitted, any restriction must meet strict international legal standards defined by law, necessary, proportionate, and aimed at a legitimate goal. In this case, no valid reason for secrecy has been provided.
SERAP insists thatThe audit report is not classified under national security grounds.
Public interest overwhelmingly supports disclosure.Transparency is essential to democracy and anti-corruption efforts.
The suit, filed by lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo, reiterates that “secrecy must remain the exception” and challenges the Nigerian government to justify the ongoing withholding of the report.
