A High Court in Lagos has ordered the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadia Umar-Farouk, to account for the N729 billion allegedly disbursed to 24.3 million underprivileged Nigerians over six months.
The court also ruled that the former minister must provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state.
Hon. Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu delivered the judgment last month following a Freedom of Information suit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, who confirmed receipt of a certified true copy of the judgment, said, “This ground-breaking judgment is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.”
He stated that in his judgment, Justice Dipeolu ruled that “The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person, including SERAP. I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021.”
The judge also ordered the minister to “explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigeria’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.”
“Justice Dipeolu’s judgment shows the urgent need for the Tinubu government to genuinely address the systemic allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and other ministries, departments and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation.”
“We commend Justice Dipeolu for her courage and wisdom and urge President Bola Tinubu to obey the court orders immediately,” Kolawole added.
Kolawole also disclosed that following the ruling, SERAP sent a letter to President Tinubu urging him to demonstrate his commitment to the rule of law by immediately respecting the court’s judgment and facilitating the compilation and release of the documents ordered by the court.
The suit was filed against the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management, and Social Development. It followed the minister’s decision in January 2021 to “pay about 24.3 million poor Nigerians N5,000 each for six months to provide help to those impoverished by the COVID-19 pandemic.”