The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and four concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against the government of President Bola Tinubu over its failure to publish the report of the forensic audit carried out on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Mr Olawole Oluwadare, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The suit, filed on behalf of SERAP and the four citizens by Mr Oluwadare alongside Ms Kehinde Oyewumi, and Mr Andrew Nwankwo stated, “There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report.”
They claimed the forensic audit implicated top officials and politicians in the disappearance of N6 trillion from the agency between 2001 and 2019, noting that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, recently alleged that the wife of a former minister received N48 billion over 12 months “to train Niger Delta women.”
The plaintiffs in the suit include Mr Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Mr Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Mr Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Mr Elizabeth Egbe.
Filed last Friday before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, the plaintiffs are seeking “a declaration that the failure of the Nigerian government to publish the NDDC forensic report amounts to a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations.”
They also want “an order directing and compelling the Nigerian government to publish and ensure access to information to the NDDC forensic report which has been submitted to the government but remains shrouded in secrecy,” and “an order directing and compelling the Nigerian government to adopt and ensure effective measures to address transparency and accountability gaps in the spending of public funds budgeted for the NDDC.”
“The Nigerian government has violated our right to know the truth about the corruption allegations documented in the NDDC forensic report.
“The obstruction of the publication of the report is perpetrating impunity and the cover-up of the allegations documented in the report.
“Implicit in freedom of expression is the public’s right to open access to information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf, without which truth would languish and people’s participation in government would remain fragmented and illusory,” they argued.
The plaintiffs claimed the Nigerian government not only refused to release the NDDC forensic report but also failed to provide any explanation for withholding it from them and the general public.
They argued that the government is legally obligated to uphold transparency and grant access to the report, as part of the broader right to seek, receive, and share information.