Tinubu meets EFCC chairman Bawa in Aso Rock

Published

4 months ago

May 31, 2023

Tinubu meets EFCC chairman Bawa in Aso Rock

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday met with Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

This came about 24 hours after Tinubu ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to vacate the Ikoyi office of the EFCC.

The two federal agencies were embroiled in a faceoff over ownership of the Ikoyi building.

The DSS operatives had barricaded the office with an armoured vehicle and prevented EFCC officials from gaining access to the place.

SERAP sues 36 Governors over failure to account for N72bn subsidy palliative

Published

7 mins ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

SERAP sues 36 Governors over failure to account for N72bn subsidy palliative

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the 36 state governors in the country over their failure to account for the spending of the N72 billion palliative collected from the Federal Government, including details of the beneficiaries and the reliefs provided with the money.

To ameliorate the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy, the Federal Government recently disbursed N2 billion out of the N5 billion palliative package to each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

President Bola Tinubu had during his inaugural speech in May, announced the removal of petrol subsidy, which has led to hike in pump price as well as food prices and transportation fares in the country.

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1943/2023 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to account for the spending of the N2 billion palliative collected by them from the Federal Government.

SERAP is also seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to disclose details of the beneficiaries and the reliefs provided to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians with the money.

SERAP is further seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to instruct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor the spending of petrol subsidy palliative collected by them.

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In the suit, SERAP is arguing that secrecy in the spending of the N72 billion collected by the governors would create distrust or suspicion of the government, adding that the failure by the governors to account for the public funds is both legally and morally wrong.

The organisation is also arguing that the governors are constitutionally required to act in the public interest, stressing that government secrecy promotes arbitrariness and covers illegal acts.

According to SERAP, the right of access to official information such as the spending of the N72 billion by the governors exists to facilitate the exercise of free expression right, discover the truth, and encourage citizens’ participation in a democracy.

The organisation is also arguing that the right to access information held by public officials and bodies is also essential for collective decision-making in a democratic society.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Blessing Ogwuche, read in part: “It is in the public interest to direct and compel the 36 state governors to account for the spending of the N72 billion palliative and any subsequent disbursement of public funds to the states.”

“There is no democratic freedom without accountability and the basic postulate of accountability is that the people should have information about the functioning of the government.”

“Compelling and directing the governors to account for the spending of the N72 billion would increase government transparency and enhance an open and democratic society.”

“A functioning democracy rests upon participation and accountability. Citizens cannot fully participate in a democracy unless they are allowed to effectively enjoy the right to know what their government is doing in their name.”

“The right of access to information also lets in light and allows the public to scrutinise the workings of the government and find truth in them. Nigerians have the right to know how their states are spending the fuel subsidy relief funds. It is part of their legally enforceable human rights.”

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“Transparency and accountability in the spending of the N72 billion and any subsequent disbursement to the governors would help to reduce the risk of corruption, mismanagement, diversion, or opportunism.”

“The oversight afforded by public access to the details of the spending of the N72 billion palliative and any subsequent disbursement to the governors would serve as an important check on the activities of the states, and help to prevent abuses of the public trust.”

“The constitutional principle of democracy provides a foundation for Nigerians’ right to know details about the spending of the N72 billion fuel subsidy palliative. Citizens’ right to know is crucial for the country’s democratic order.”

“The effective operation of representative democracy depends on the people being able to scrutinise, discuss and contribute to government decision making, including on the fuel subsidy relief funds.”

“The removal of subsidy on petrol continues to negatively and disproportionately affect the poor and socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians in several states, undermining their right to adequate standard of living.”

“The Freedom of Information Act, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee to everyone the right to information, including about how the N72 billion fuel subsidy relief funds are spent.”

“By the combined reading of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, applicable throughout Nigeria, there are transparency obligations imposed on the 36 states to account for the spending of the N72 billion fuel subsidy palliative.”

“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.”

“States cannot hide under the excuse that the Freedom of Information Act is not applicable to them to refuse to provide the details being sought, as all the 36 states also have clear legal obligations to provide the information as prescribed by the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and. Enforcement) Act.”

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

SERAP sues 36 Governors over failure to account for N72bn subsidy palliative

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News

Breaking: Release Tinubu records to Atiku, US court orders Chicago university

Published

3 hours ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

Breaking: Release Tinubu records to Atiku, US court orders Chicago university

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered Chicago State University to release the credentials of President Bola Tinubu to
former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a tweet by Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, on Sunday, October 1, disclosed that Judge Nancy Maldonado ruled in favour of Atiku and denied the appeal filed by President Tinubu.

According to the document shared by the legal practitioner, the court ordered the Chicago State University to release the documents by Monday, October 2. It must be completed on Tuesday, October 3.

Tinubu, in an appeal, had earlier got the nod of Justice Gilbert to stay the execution of the Magistrate court ruling that favoured Atiku.

But the PDP presidential candidate filed a counter-appeal on the judgment and was favoured by Judge Nancy Maldonado.

News

FG begins verification of National Social Register

Published

6 hours ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

Dr Betta Edu

FG begins verification of National Social Register

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, on Saturday flagged off the Federal Government’s verification of the National Social Register in Makoko, Lagos state.

According to the minister, the exercise will ensure that the federal government’s social register is accurate and captures the people who deserve to be on the register.

Edu said she was in the community to flag off the Social Register verification for the Vulnerable People Living in the Makoko Area of the state.

She said: “We are here today in the Makoko area of Lagos state because President Bola Tinubu has asked us to come here and verify the National Social Register.

“The President desires to ensure that the social register is accurate and indeed captures the people that deserve to be on that register.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is trying to put monies in the hands of Nigerians.

“This is to assist them in terms of their businesses, livelihood, job creation, of course, to help them afford basic things like sending their children to school and ensuring that they can access to quality health services.’’

“For us to do this, we need to verify the National Social Register.”

According to the minister, the president is determined to ensure that those on the national social register are truly poor and live under one dollar per day.

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The president has approved that we go down to the grassroots and ensure that the national social register is a true reflection of people who are poor, who live under one dollar a day, and people who live in remote areas and areas that truly need help.

“Those who should not be on the register should be removed. Those who need to be on the register should be included.

“And so, we are taking this as one of the samples. We are doing both the community targeting and geographical targeting.

“This is our first sample and we have gone round and we have seen that certain aspects of the Makoko was covered under the national register.

“However, the last area that we came for was not reflected on the national social register and so, we will be coming back to do a targeted capturing of the people in this area,” Edu said.

She also said that the exercise would be carried out across the country to ensure that a National Social Register in Nigeria has integrity.

“We will work with the governors, we will work with the states, we will work with the local governments and we will work with the community heads.

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“And we can be sure that those who are being captured and those we will be making the conditional cash transfers to are those who truly need it devoid of political interference, devoid of social interference and devoid personal interest.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister distributed some food items to the affected residents of the area and conducted a free health outreach on the sidelines of her visit.

Edu also said: “We won’t just come here empty-handed and we have tried to see that we can send in some food items, some palliative to them.

“The distribution will still continue. They will go house-to-house using the boats and drop the items at their various locations.

“This is actually what we need to do to ensure that we target the right persons as we make the move to end poverty in Nigeria and reduce humanitarian crises.

“We are also working with the National Population Commission, so we can go all the way to the grassroots.

“They (the population commission) have individuals in all the 8,200 polling units, wards, communities across the country.

“So, we have persons there that will truly verify the register for us, identify the human beings, then tell us areas that have not been captured,” Edu said.