A Federal High Court in Lagos has directed the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadia Umar-Farouk, to give details of how N729bn allegedly disbursed to 24.3 million poor Nigerians was carried out.
In a judgment delivered by Deinde Dipeolu on June 27, Farouq was ordered to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state.
The ruling followed a freedom of information request from the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday by the organisation.
“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 said.
Justice Dipeolu ordered the minister to “provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.”
“State whether the payments will be made in cash, through Bank Verification Numbers or other means.
“Details of the proposed payments of N729 Billion to 24.3 million Nigerians for six months, including mechanisms and logistics put in place for the payments and list of beneficiaries.
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.”
She ruled that “the minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has, in line with sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act, prayed this Court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought.”
Justice Dipeolu dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments.
Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the minister.
This is a good development, SERAP – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has a lot of pending cases, given ultimatums and written petitions against individuals, corporate organisations, government agencies as it concerns corruption, violation of human rights etc. When it comes to SERAP and their pursuit for justice, no one seems to be off the menu.
Nigerians once again hope that this alleged corruption case is seen to a logical conclusion.
