A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the federal government to “immediately release to Nigerians information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered and the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.”
The judgment was delivered by Justice Hadiza Shagari following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016 brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP.
The suit followed disclosure last year by the federal government of funds recovered from some high-ranking public and private individuals.
In her judgment, Ms. Shagari agreed with SERAP that “the Federal Government has a legally binding obligation to tell Nigerians the names of all suspected looters of the public treasury past and present.”
Joined as defendants in the suit are the Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.
Justice Shagari also granted the following reliefs:
A declaration that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the defendants are under a binding legal obligation to provide the plaintiff with up to date information relating to the following:
To widely disseminate including on a dedicated website information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered since May 201
The circumstances under which stolen public funds were returned
SERAP said it is now processing a certified true copy of the judgment.
Timothy Adewale, SERAP deputy director who argued the case on behalf of the organisation and was in court when the judgment was delivered, said, “This is a victory for justice, rule of law, transparency and accountability in this country. The judgment shows the way forward in the fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators. We will do everything within the law to ensure full compliance by President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Osinbajo with this landmark judgment.
The Ministry of Information last year published details of the recoveries, which showed that the Nigerian government successfully retrieved total cash amount N78,325,354,631.82, $185,119,584.61, £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016.
Also released were recoveries under interim forfeiture, which were a combination of cash and asset, during the same period: N126,563,481,095.43, $9,090,243,920.15, £2,484,447.55 and €303,399.17. Anticipated repatriation from foreign countries totalled: $321,316,726.1, £6,900,000 and €11,826.11. The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash recoveries were made during the one-year period. The non-cash recoveries are – farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.
Subsequently, SERAP issued an FOI request and gave the Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, 14 days to disclose the names of all suspected looters.
In the request, SERAP insists that the public interest to know is greater than any other legitimate interest that the government might wish to protect. The Nigerian government has an obligation to balance whether the risk of harm to the legitimate aim (that is secrecy of ongoing corruption investigation and presumption of innocence) from disclosure of the names of public officials is greater than the public interest in accessing the information.”
Buhari started off his administration with a zest to rid the nation of corruption. And most of the suspect caught in the first wave of the sweep belong to opposition PDP. Former NSA Sambo Dasuki was hauled in over allegation of misappropriating $2.1 billion voted for arms in the counterinsurgency op going on in the northeast. He was said to have spent the money financing the PDP presidential campaign.
Other key members of the Goodluck Jonathan facing series of allegation include ex-First Lady Patience Jonathan, Femi Fani-Kayide, ex-Finance Minister Esther Nneadi, media businessman Raymond Dokpesi, and others.
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