Nigeria: Court Orders Former Humanitarian Minister to Account for N729 Billion Spent on Poverty Alleviation

A Federal High Court in Lagos has compelled Ms. Sadia Umar-Farouk, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management, and Social Development, to provide a detailed account of N729 billion spent on 24.3 million poor Nigerians over six months.

The court, presided by Hon. Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu, mandated the former minister to disclose the list and details of beneficiaries, the number of states covered, and the payment amounts per state. 

This judgment followed a Freedom of Information (FOI) suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), numbered FHC/L/CS/853/2021.

In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu emphasised the obligation of the former minister to comply with the FOI Act by providing the requested information. 

“The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person including SERAP,” he stated. 

He further directed the minister to explain the rationale behind paying N5,000 to each of the 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which accounts for 5 per cent of Nigeria’s 2021 budget of N13.6 trillion.

Justice Dipeolu’s judgment, dated June 27, 2024, highlighted the minister’s failure to justify the refusal to disclose the requested details. SERAP had cited specific sections of the FOI Act 2011 that the minister contravened and sought an order of mandamus to compel the release of the information. 

The court dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments, thus ruling in favor of the organisation.

“The minister did not carry out a proper search of the case file before filing the preliminary objection,” Justice Dipeolu noted, dismissing the minister’s claim that the suit was statute-barred. 

The court affirmed that SERAP had complied with the statutory requirements for filing the suit, which was initiated via a motion ex parte dated July 13, 2021, and filed on July 15, 2021.

SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, hailed the judgment as a significant victory for transparency and accountability in public fund management. 

Femi Falana, SAN, also commended SERAP, describing the litigation as a patriotic endeavour to address systemic corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and other government departments.

Following the judgment, SERAP urged President Bola Tinubu to enforce the court’s decision promptly. In a letter dated July 6, 2024, addressed to President Tinubu, SERAP called for the immediate release of the spending details of the N729 billion. 

The organisation stressed that compliance with the court order would signify a commitment to the rule of law and transparency in managing public resources.