The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, along with the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states, has been sued over their alleged failure to account for the expenditure of trillions of naira received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) since 1999.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) initiated this legal action last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
This lawsuit follows reports indicating that the FAAC disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state, and local governments in March 2024.
In April, this amount increased to N1.208 trillion. According to SERAP, the states received N398.689 billion in March and N403.403 billion in April.
The suit, identified as FHC/ABJ/CS/666/2024, calls on the court to compel the governors and the FCT Minister to publicly disclose the details of how the FAAC allocations have been spent since 1999.
This includes providing a comprehensive list and the locations of projects that were executed with these funds.
In a statement released on Sunday, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, emphasized the importance of transparency in the use of public funds.
He stated, “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds including FAAC allocations, are spent by the governors and FCT minister.
Opacity in the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by the governors and Mr. Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens. Trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT have allegedly gone down the drain.
The resulting human costs directly threaten the human rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.”
SERAP argues that the lack of transparency and accountability in the use of FAAC allocations significantly affects the well-being of Nigerian citizens, particularly those who are socially and economically vulnerable.
The organization maintains that revealing the details of the expenditures is crucial for ensuring that public funds are used effectively and for the benefit of the people.
This lawsuit is part of SERAP’s ongoing efforts to promote transparency and accountability in government spending.
By seeking judicial intervention, SERAP aims to ensure that the governors and the FCT Minister are held accountable for the management of public funds and that the citizens are informed about how their money is being spent.
