President Bola Tinubu is being sued by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in the Federal High Court in Lagos for neglecting to order an investigation into the N57 billion that was purportedly embezzled from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in 2021.
In particular, SERAP is requesting that the court order Tinubu to order Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to expeditiously investigate the purportedly lost public funds by collaborating with the relevant anti-corruption institutions.
In addition, the organization is pleading with the court to order the president to order the Attorney General of the Federation to work with the proper anti-graft agencies in order to recover any missing public funds and, if there is enough admissible evidence, prosecute anyone suspected of being responsible for the N57 billion that has gone missing. The case has not yet been assigned to a judge.
In a document that was included with the lawsuit, SERAP said that if the government looked into the claims, prosecuted individuals suspected of being involved, and retrieved the money that was lost, it would help put an end to the impunity of those who commit crimes.
The plaintiff pointed out that the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, along with other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), continue to impose a heavy cost of massive corruption on low-income Nigerians.
“Citizens experience the effects of corruption on a daily basis,” SERAP stated. They are compelled by corruption to pay more for administrative, educational, and health services.
According to SERAP, the accusations also violate the nation’s anti-corruption statutes, the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and international anti-corruption commitments, indicating a grave breach of public trust.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit brought on behalf of SERAP by one of its attorneys, Kolawole Oluwadare, said that providing the requested reliefs would be crucial in tackling the country’s debt and budget deficit issues as well as corruption in MDAs.
“Hundreds of billions of naira are also reportedly missing in other MDAs,” according to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2021 audited report, which contained the alarming findings, according to SERAP.
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The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2021 annual audited report states that the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation “failed to account for over N54 billion intended for paying monthly stipends to Batch C1 N-Power volunteers and non-graduate trainees between August and December 2021.” The ministry also allegedly failed to account for over N2.6 billion allocated for the “homegrown school feeding program during COVID-19,” since “the program was never executed.”
It stated that there was no evidence of the money being used to pay five contractors for the purchase, packaging, and delivery of COVID-19 palliatives to the states of Kano, Zamfara, and Abia.
According to the report, the ministry allegedly spent more than N78 million on a survey regarding their COVID-19 response to states and vulnerable populations without obtaining authorization or supporting evidence.
Furthermore, N39.5 million in personal donations to various individuals were allegedly not reported by the government.
