Posted by In a recent announcement, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani revealed that the state was unable to pay salaries due to 115 contractual liabilities, $587 million in debt, and N85 billion in debt left by the administration of Nasir El-Rufai. This revelation prompted the lawsuit.
The Federal High Court, Abuja is currently hearing SERAP’s case number FHC/ABJ/CS/592/2024, which was filed last Friday. SERAP is requesting that the court “direct and compel the governors and Wike to account for N5.9trn and $4.6bn loans obtained by their states and the FCT and to publish copies of the loan agreements, location of projects executed with the loans.”
In addition, SERAP is requesting that the court order the governors and Mr. Wike to request that the EFCC and the ICPC investigate how each state and the FCT have spent all of the loans that have been obtained up to this point.
It is in the public interest to grant the reliefs sought, according to the organization’s argument in the lawsuit. All Nigerians have a right to know how their governors and FCT minister spend the money they borrowed, both domestically and internationally. This includes the ability to view and review the loan agreements.
“The fundamental interests of the citizens would continue to be negatively affected by the lack of transparency in the spending of the loans obtained by the governors and Mr. Wike,” states SERAP.
In their lawsuit, SERAP’s attorneys Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Ms. Valentina Adegoke argued that the federal government and the states should follow the principles of openness and accountability when dealing with loans, and that they should take the initiative to account for the money they’ve borrowed and make the loan agreements public.
So that those in positions of public trust can be held to account for how they handle taxpayer money, it is recommended that copies of all loan agreements and expenditure information be made publicly available.
“Governors of states and Mr. Wike cannot claim that their states and the FCT are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Both the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights impose the legal duties to disseminate the sought-after information.
The aggregate public domestic debt portfolio for all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria amounts to N5.9 trillion, as reported by the country’s Debt Management Office. There are a total of $4.6 billion in public external debt.
The hearing of the lawsuit, however, has not yet been scheduled.