The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged Nigerian governors and the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to court over failure to account for alleged missing N40 trillion federal allocations.
In the suit, SERAP asked an Abuja Federal High Court to compel the 36 state governors and the FCT minister to publish details of local government areas and the FCT area councils allocations and actual disbursement from 1999 to date. The suit was filed on behalf of the organisation by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo.
The legal non-governmental organisation said the 1999 Nigerian Constitution 1999 as Amended and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights impose transparency obligations on the governors and the FCT minister to publish the details of LGA allocations and actual disbursement in their states and the nation’s capital.
The statement by SERAP reads: “It is in the public interest and the interest of justice to grant this application. Nigerians are entitled to their constitutionally and internationally recognized human right to information.
“Transparency in the actual disbursement and spending of federal allocations meant for local governments is fundamental to increase accountability, prevent corruption, and build trust in democratic institutions, and strengthen the rule of law.
“States and the FCT should be guided by transparency and accountability principles and proactively publish information pertaining to their actual disbursement and spending of federal allocations meant for local governments.
“The governors and Mr. Wike have a legal responsibility to promote transparency and accountability in the actual disbursement and spending of federal allocations meant for local government areas in the states and FCT and to ensure that the allocations are duly and fully disbursed to the local governments.
“According to our information, the 36 states in Nigeria and the federal capital territory, Abuja, have collected over N40 trillion in federal allocations meant for the 774 local government areas in the country and FCT.
“The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed to states N225.21 billion federal allocations meant for local governments in November 2023 alone. States also collected N258,810,449,711.47 federal allocations meant for local government areas in December 2023.
“However, there is opacity in the actual disbursement of federal allocations to the local government areas in the states and FCT. States and the FCT have over the years failed and/or refused to disclose the portion of federal allocations that are disbursed to local governments.
“Former president Muhammadu Buhari recently alleged that state governors routinely pocket or divert federal allocations meant for local governments areas in their states.
“According to Buhari, ‘If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.’
“Section 162(6) of Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) provides that each state shall maintain a ‘State Joint Local Government Account’ into which all allocations to local government councils from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State shall be paid.
“Section 162(5) makes it mandatory that amounts standing to the credit of the councils will be allocated to the States for the benefit of their local government councils.
“Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution requires public institutions to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power. Section 16(2) further provides that, ‘the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good.”
