A non-governmental organisation, the Initiative For Transparent Strategy And Good Leadership, has dragged the Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over failure to prosecute the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara, and others for alleged fraud.
The group, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1399/2022, is asking the court to mandate the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to immediately arrest Fubara, who is also the immediate-past Accountant-General of Rivers State, over his pending fraud case before the EFCC.
The group is also seeking for an order mandating and compelling the Attorney General to make public, Rivers State government documents, authorising Fubara to physically access and withdraw a whooping amount to the tune of One Hundred and Seventeen Billion Naira (117,000,000,000,00.).
Joined in the suit are three state government officials, including: Harrisonba Bessi Princewill, Lekia V. Bukpor, Dagogo Roddick Abere.
Court documents obtained by The Explainer reads in part: “A declaration that the refusal and failure of the first and second defendants to comply with the request of the plaintiff dated 21st June, 2022 is in outright denial of the plaintiff’s right to access information within their custody or possession and thus offends provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.
“A declaration that the failure, neglect and refusal of the first and third defendants to make public the government documents authorising the fourth to seventh defendants or their offices and or any other person(s) to access and physically withdraw the sum of ₦117 Billion in direct breach of all known banking protocols in Nigeria is unlawful, fraudulent, illegal and as such the tax-paying public is entitled to account.
“A declaration that the second defendant is statutorily empowered upon reasonable suspicion and information to cause investigation as to whether the fourth to seventh defendants have committed an offence in a nature of a financial crime.
“An order mandating and compelling the first and third defendants to make public, Rivers State government documents authorising the fourth defendant and the fifth to the seventh defendants to physically access and withdraw across the counter, the sum of ₦177 Billion.
“An order mandating or compelling the second defendant to take steps to carry out its statutory duties under Section 7 (1) and (12) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment Act) 2015, respecting the pending uninvestigated suspicious of criminal conspiracy, money laundering misappropriation of public funds and abuse of office against the fourth to seventh defendants forthwith.”
