Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Abuja praying that they court should direct and compel state governors to use public funds budgeted for security votes and the life pensions for former governors to fund healthcare facilities and address the impact of COVID-19 on millions of Nigerians.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/757/2020 filed last Friday, SERAP also sought “an order for leave to apply for judicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and compel the 36 state governors to disclose how much they have individually collected from the Federal Government as COVID-19 support, from private donations and other sources, as well as details of spending of any such funds and donations.”
IT also demanded a declaration that the failure of the 36 state governors to respond in a satisfactory way to SERAP’s requests amount to a fundamental breach of the FoI Act, the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The suit followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information (FoI) requests dated April 25, expressing concern that “many state governors are spending scarce state resources to pay themselves security votes and their predecessors life pensions rather than using public funds to effectively respond to COVID-19 by investing in and improving public healthcare facilities in their states.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its counsel, Kolawole Oluwadare and Atinuke Adejuyigbe.