The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), along with four concerned Nigerians, has sued President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the ECOWAS Court of Justice for failing to release the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The report is expected to expose the alleged misappropriation of N6 trillion by top government officials and lawmakers between 2001 and 2019.
In 2019, following claims of massive corruption, the late former President Muhammadu Buhari requested a forensic assessment of the NDDC’s operations. Also, Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), reportedly claimed that the wife of a previous minister collected N48 billion over a year “to train Niger Delta women.”
The four Nigerians involved in the suit are Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa; Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote; Ben Omietimi Tariye; and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.
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In the suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25 filed last Friday before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, the plaintiffs seek: “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.”
The lawsuits ask for “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.”
The plaintiffs also seek “an order directing and compelling the Nigerian government to adopt and enforce effective measures to address transparency and accountability gaps in the spending of public funds budgeted for the NDDC.”
“The Nigerian government violated our right to know the truth regarding the corruption allegations detailed in the NDDC forensic report. The report’s dissemination is being obstructed, resulting in impunity and a cover-up of the claims documented in it.
“Freedom of expression implicitly includes 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 democracy would be fragmented and unreal.
“The Nigerian government has failed and refused to publish the NDDC forensic report and has failed to provide any reasons or grounds for withholding the report from the plaintiffs and the Nigerian public.”
“The Nigerian government has the legal obligations to guarantee and ensure transparency and access to information regarding the NDDC forensic report as a component of the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds.”
The petition, filed on behalf of SERAP and the four concerned Nigerians by their lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo, states in part: “There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report.
“The Nigerian government’s continued unwillingness to publish the NDDC forensic report denies the plaintiffs the opportunity to thoroughly examine the findings and hold the government accountable, as well as undermining the rule of law and violating the plaintiffs’ other rights.
“The requested information is not classified for national security reasons, as the NDDC forensic report addresses issues of transparency, accountability, and human rights, all of which are covered by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“Access to public information is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Nigerian government must respect, promote, and protect. Nigeria has ratified both human rights accords.
“Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights impose an affirmative obligation on the Nigerian government to grant the plaintiffs access to the NDDC forensic report in its custody and control.
“Access to information is a fundamental tool for fostering citizenship, and the plaintiffs have the right to participate in matters of public interest, such as seeking accountability and justice for victims of corruption as documented in the NDDC forensic report.”
“These matters of public interest are part of the ideals underlying the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.”
“Having access to information about the NDDC forensic report would allow the plaintiffs to effectively exercise their human rights and hold the Nigerian government accountable for the allegations detailed in the report.”
“Public access to the NDDC forensic report would also encourage democratic engagement and enable citizens to hold the Nigerian government accountable and combat corruption in the country.
“To ensure the full and effective exercise of the right to access information, state administration, including the Nigerian government, shall adhere to the principles of maximal transparency and good faith.
“The principle of maximal disclosure is a guiding principle of the right to information, as stated in Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The notion of maximal disclosure requires a legislative environment in which transparency and access are the general rule, with rigorous and limited exceptions. The right to access information is the rule; concealment is the exception.
“The right to access information is not absolute; it may be limited.
“However, these limitations must closely adhere to the requirements drawn from international human rights law, namely that they are exceptional, legally codified, founded on a legitimate objective, and necessary and proportional to achieving that aim.
“However, the exceptions should not become the general rule; they must keep in mind that access to information is the rule and concealment is the exception.
“The Nigerian government bears the burden of demonstrating that the limitations on publishing and accessing information regarding the NDDC forensic findings are consistent with international human rights standards and the accompanying legal obligations imposed on the country.
“Since the NDDC forensic report is in the ownership and control of the Nigerian government, the state must avoid using discretionary and arbitrary measures to limit the right to information and transparency.
“The denial of access to information regarding the NDDC forensic report is a violation of the plaintiffs’ right to a legal remedy and incompatible with the requirements of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
However, no date has been set for the hearing of the lawsuit.
