SERAP IN THE NEWS

What is the outcome of the suits filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)? Are they all hype? Deputy News Editor of The Nation Newspaper, JOSEPH JIBUEZE reviews some of the recent verdicts in cases initiated by the NGO.

Civil society is an essential ingredient of development and plays a critical role in a democracy. It is an important source of information for both the government and citizens.

Civil society organisations (CSOs), on behalf of the citizens, monitor government policies and actions and hold institutions and those who head them accountable.

They engage in advocacy and offer alternative policies for the government, the private sector and other institutions.

One such CSO that has remained consistent is the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), whose strategies include public interest litigation. But, what becomes of the NGO’s many suits after filing?

The presidency, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, once claimed that SERAP only files cases without following through.

But, the NGO’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare said there is much more to the cases SERAP initiates.

“I think there is a misunderstanding as to the purpose of these public interest lawsuits,” he said.

According to him, while the suits help achieve advocacy objectives in the short term, they have broader significance.

Oluwadare explained: “They are primarily to sensitise the public about issues of public interest and to create legal jurisprudence and precedents that can help improve our legal system.”

While not all the outcomes of the suits are in the public domain, SERAP insists the objectives are being realised.

Oluwadare said: “In some of the judgments that were secured, there has been compliance.

“Some of the issues litigated against have been dropped by the concerned agencies or respondents after the suits were filed.”

One of the suits prayed the court to order the Federal Government to recover over N40 billion double pay from former governors who earn life pension while serving as lawmakers or ministers.

The Federal High Court in Lagos had ordered then Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws.

Following non-compliance with the order, SERAP filed a contempt suit against Malami.

Subsequently, a former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, asked the state government to stop the payment of his monthly pension.

He said he did not want to be receiving double remuneration, having returned to public service as Senator representing Ogun East.

The former governor said: “good conscience” informed his decision to have his monthly payment of N676,376.95 suspended.

Oluwadare said: “Senator Daniel has stopped collecting pension in compliance with the judgment SERAP secured. There are plenty more success stories.

“Former Kwara State Governor and Senate President Bukola Saraki also said he stopped collecting life pension because of SERAP’s lawsuit.”

SERAP has sustained the advocacy against former governors in government receiving double pay.

It has asked President Bola Tinubu to ensure the stoppage of further collection of life pensions and other allowances by governors in his administration.

The NGO stressed that receiving a life pension while serving as a minister or Senator is forbidden by the 1999 Constitution.

SERAP also recorded success following the threat to revoke the broadcast licences of 53 broadcast stations by the Buhari Administration.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), on August 19, 2023, revoked the licences of 53 broadcast stations on the grounds of their failure to pay their licence renewal fees worth N2.66 billion.

The commission ordered those yet to pay to shut down at 12am on August 20.

SERAP, along with the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), challenged NBC’s action, following which the Federal High Court restrained the Federal Government from shutting down the stations.

Oluwadare said regarding the case: “The Federal Government said in court that NBC did not fine the 53 broadcast stations because of the injunction issued by the court.

“I think we need to do more in selling our success stories and educating people about the objectives of these lawsuits.”

Other success stories

 The Abuja Close Circuit Television (CCTV) project was launched amid fanfare, but its execution was less successful. SERAP took it upon itself to ask questions.

It filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking the Buhari Administration to account for the $460 million Chinese loan obtained to fund the failed Abuja CCTV contract.

SERAP sought an order of mandamus directing and compelling the government, through the Minister of Finance, to make available to the NGO information on the total amount of money paid to contractors.

It sought specific details of names of contractors involved as well as details of the status of the project implementation.

On May 15, 2023, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered the government to account for how the loan was spent.

The court also ordered the government to “publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors and specific details of the names of the companies and contractors and status of the implementation of the project.”

The Freedom of Information (FoI) suit was numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1447/2019.

It followed the disclosure in 2019 by former Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, that “Nigeria was servicing the loan” and that she had “no explanations on the status of the project”.

Justice Nwite agreed with SERAP that there was a reasonable cause of action against the government.

“Accounting for the spending of the $460 million Chinese loan is in the interest of the public.

“It will be inimical for the court to refuse SERAP’s application for judicial review of the government’s action,” the judge held.

 The Abacha loot case

 Another significant case was the suit by SERAP praying the court to order the previous administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari to account for $5billion Abacha loot.

The late Sani Abacha was Head of State from November 17,1993 when he seized power, to June 8, 1998 when he died in office.

Nigeria has continued to receive funds looted by Abacha, such as $44.1million from Switzerland in 2006, $ 227 million from Liechtenstein in 2018 and $311.7 in 2020, among others.

In the FoI suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/407/2020, SERAP urged the Federal High Court to order the previous governments to account for at least $5 billion recovered from the late Abacha.

On July 3, 2023, Justice James Omotosho granted the application.

In the landmark judgment, he ordered the disclosure of the spending details of the recoveries by the past governments.

The court ordered the Tinubu Administration to “disclose the exact amount of money stolen by General Sani Abacha from Nigeria, and the total amount of Abacha loot recovered and all agreements signed on same by the governments of former presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.”

Justice Omotosho held: “In the final analysis, the application by SERAP is meritorious and the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance is hereby ordered to furnish SERAP with the full spending details of about $5 billion Abacha loot within seven days of this judgment.”

The judge ordered the government to “disclose details of the projects executed with the Abacha loot, locations of any such projects and the names of companies and contractors that carried or carrying out the projects since the return of democracy in 1999 till date.”

The judge added: “The excuse by the Minister of Finance is that the ministry has searched its records and the details of the exact public funds stolen by Abacha and how the funds have been spent are not held by the Ministry. The excuse has no leg to stand in view of section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act.”

Justice Omotosho dismissed all the objections raised by the Federal Government and upheld SERAP’s arguments.

In the letter dated 8 July 2023 sent to President Tinubu and signed by Oluwadare, the organisation said: “We urge you to demonstrate your expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the court.

“We urge you to direct the Ministry of Finance and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile and release the spending details of recovered Abacha loot as ordered by the court.”

 N200b Delta education funds

 In March 2019, a seven-year-old girl, Success Adegor from Sapele, Delta State, became a sensation on social media after she was sent home because her parents could not pay a fee/levy of N900.

Miss Success had, in the viral video, said in pidgin: “No be say I no go pay, dem go flog, flog, flog, dem go tire.”

She was a pupil of Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, which was found not to be in good condition.

SERAP followed up and sought to know how the Ifeanyi Okowa government spent over N200billion education fund allocations to Delta.

Okowa was the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections.

Joined as defendants are the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

In a judgment delivered on July 17, 2023, Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Lagos made an order of mandamus compelling the Delta government to provide SERAP with the information requested.

He ordered the state government to “disclose how the Okowa government spent over N7.28 billion received from UBEC between 2015 and 2017, and N213 billion received from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2018, at an average of N17.8 billion monthly.”

The court ordered “the disclosure of the spending details of over N200billion public funds collected by the government of former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa from the UBEC fund and allocations from the Federation Accounts.”

The court ordered the Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to “disclose details of budgetary allocations and actual spending by the Okowa government between 2015 and 2019, including specific projects carried out to improve primary education in Delta State, and the locations of such projects.”

The suit followed SERAP’s FoI suit numbered FHC/L/CS/803/2019

Justice Osiagor held: “SERAP has cognisable legal right to inquire and know the way and manner public institutions manage public funds.

“I must say that every citizen has a duty to demand transparency and accountability in the governance of public institutions.

“Why should a request for details of disbursement and spending of public funds between 2015-2019 by Delta State be a cause of litigation for four years?

“Public officials are fast developing a state of anomie and cold feet when confronted with request for audit report of public duties and budgets.”

The court added: “SERAP’s application cures so much disinformation in the public space. The request by SERAP falls within the categories of records accessible by the public.

“However, public institutions are becoming increasingly hysterical upon any request served on them for information bordering on accountability.

“The arguments of the Delta State government and the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) that the Freedom of Information Act applies to only Federal Government officials cannot be sustained as public institutions are defined in Section 31 of the Interpretation section to include state institutions.”

‘More public interest suits needed’

 A public affairs analyst and columnist, Sonala Olumhense, who has followed SERAP’s work since 2004, said the NGO’s dogged pursuit of the rule of law, accountability and human rights filled him “with pride”.

He wrote in the aftermath of criticisms by former presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, who had accused the NGO of embarrassing the government.

“To date, SERAP has not taken their retinue of legal actions to a logical conclusion. They don’t follow through,” Shehu claimed.

But, Olumhense, who clarified that knew no one from SERAP nor spoke for it, disagreed with the presidency.

To him, the Federal Government was riled up by the NGO’s lawsuit which sought the arrest of soldiers and police officers indicted by the Lagos #EndSARS report in the 2020 Lekki toll gate shooting.

The columnist believes the presidency may have also been irked by another lawsuit by SERAP over the government’s failure to publish the names of those indicted in the alleged misappropriation of over N6trillion at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Highlighting SERAP’s public interest litigations since the Obasanjo Administration, Olumhense stressed there was an “open-source list of many cases that SERAP has resolved through the relevant legal systems over the years”.

He urged the government to address the issues raised by the organisation and go after those who flout the laws rather than resort to blackmail, adding: “Thank you, SERAP.”

A Lagos lawyer, Jonathan Iyieke, believes SERAP should be encouraged.

He said: “SERAP was established in 2004 and one of the reasons for its formation as an NGO was to fight corruption at all levels. There have numerous public interest litigations at the instance of SERAP.

“The challenge is that in a country like Nigeria where corruption and disobedience to rule of law are eulogised, it does not matter how many times one goes to court

“It’s really a travesty of justice that cases ventilated and doggedly won in courts are selectively obeyed. I am in support of SERAP. Let it continue with its work.”

Activist-lawyer, Tope Alabi, urged SERAP to sustain the public interest litigations. He also does not think they are too many or are a waste of time.

He said: “The problems in the society that call for public interest litigation are many, so the cases filed by SERAP are not even enough. More public interest litigation is needed.”

Alabi, however, urged SERAP to provide regular updates on the status of the cases and their eventual outcomes.

He added: “We hear a lot about SERAP filing cases, so I think the public also needs to know what becomes of them when judgment is given.”