A federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to account for payments of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months.
The court also ordered the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered, and the payments per state.
The presiding judge, Deinde Dipeolu, gave the judgement in June following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/L/CS/853/2021, filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP.
The certified true copy of the judgement was obtained on Friday by the anti-corruption group.
In his judgement, Mr Dipeolu held that “The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person, including SERAP. I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021.”
He ordered the minister to “provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.”
The judge also ordered the minister to “explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five percent of Nigeria’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.”
She ruled that “the minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has, in line with sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act, prayed this Court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought.”
The judge dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments.
Reacting to the judgement, SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the ruling is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.
He said, “This ground-breaking judgement is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.
“Justice Dipeolu’s judgement shows the urgent need for the Tinubu government to genuinely address the systemic allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development and other ministries, departments, and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation.
“We commend Justice Dipeolu for her courage and wisdom and urge President Bola Tinubu to immediately obey the court orders.”
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