Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has sued the government of president Bola Tinubu “over the failure to publish spending details of the loans obtained by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.”
The suit was filed against the Minister of Finance and
Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Debt Management
Office, DMO.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/353/2024 filed last Friday at
the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel
the Tinubu government to publish the loan agreements obtained by the
governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck
Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.”
SERAP is also praying the court to “direct and compel the
Tinubu government to publish the spending details of any such loans, including
the interests and other payments so far made on the loans.”
SERAP, in the suit argued that, “No one should be able to
pull curtains of secrecy around decisions on the spending of public funds which
can be revealed without injury to the public interest. Democracy requires
accountability and accountability requires transparency.”
It also argued that “The Tinubu government should make it
possible for citizens to have access to the agreements and spending details to
judge whether their government is working for them or not.”
According to SERAP, “The information may help to explain
why, despite several billions of dollars in loans obtained by successive
governments, millions of Nigerians continue to face extreme poverty and lack
access to basic public goods and services.”
It said that Nigerians’ right to democratic governance
allows them to appreciably influence the direction of government, and have an
opportunity to assess progress and assign blame.
It stated that the accountability of government to the
general public is a hallmark of democratic governance, which Nigeria seeks to
achieve.
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole
Oluwadare and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: “Publishing the loan agreements
would improve public accountability in ministries, departments and agencies,
MDAs.”
SERAP added that Nigerians are entitled to information about
what their government is doing in their name, stressing that it is part of
their right to information.
“Publishing the agreements and spending details would allow
the public to see how and on what these governments spent the loans and foster
transparency and accountability.
“Publishing the loan agreements signed by the governments of
former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and
Muhammadu Buhari, and widely publishing the agreements would allow Nigerians to
scrutinise it and to demand accountability for the spending of the loans,” it
said
The Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, DMO, however, said
that the total public domestic debt portfolio for the country’s is N97.3
trillion ($108 billion).
It said that Nigeria paid $6.2 billion in 2019 as interest
on loans, while the country paid $6.5 as interest in 2018. Nigeria also paid $5
billion as interest on loans in 2017, while the country paid $4.4 billion as
interest in 2016. For 2015, the interest paid on loans was $5.5 billion.
According to DMO, substantial parts of the loans obtained by
successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999 may have been
mismanaged, diverted or stolen, and in any case, they remain unaccounted for.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
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