The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari and Abubakar Malami for “the failure to publish copy and details of the agreement the Federal Government recently signed with the United States for the repatriation of $23 million.”
SERAP’s action to sue was taken after the Federal Government recently signed an agreement with the United States for the repatriation of $23 million that the former Head of State, Sani Abacha, stole.
Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, was added to the lawsuit as a respondent.
The $311 million in Abacha money was returned by America in 2020, which led to the signing of the deal in August 2022.
SERAP requested that the Federal High Court of Abuja order Muhammadu Buhari and Abubakar Malami to disclose the specifics of the contract they have with the US in action FHC/ABJ/CS/1700/2022.
SERAP is interested in the safeguards put in place to make sure that the money sent home is not mismanaged, wasted, or stolen again.
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The $23 million in Abacha wealth that has been returned, according to SERAP, “is susceptible to corruption and poor administration.” In any scenario, a sizable portion of the estimated $5 billion in Abacha money that has been returned since 1999 may have been mismanaged, diverted, or re-stolen.
SERAP said: “The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international commitments hinge on the premise that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s operations,” the document’s lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Atinuke Adejuyigbe partially read.
“The Federal Government has a duty to ensure openness and accountability in how any repatriated stolen monies are handled, to decrease vulnerability to corruption, and mismanagement.”
“It is in the best interests of justice and the public to approve this application. The right to information is guaranteed by Nigerian law and is a fundamental human right, SERAP added.
The right to information is guaranteed to everyone by the Freedom of Information Act, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the right to a copy of the agreement regarding the repatriated $23 million in Abacha loot.
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