The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the government of President Bola Tinubu to court over its refusal to release the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which allegedly exposed the disappearance of ₦6 trillion between 2001 and 2019.
In a statement released on Sunday, July 20, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the audit implicated several top government officials and politicians.
The audit was ordered in 2019 by then President Muhammadu Buhari after widespread allegations of massive corruption within the NDDC. But over four years later, the report remains unpublished.
SERAP noted that even more recent revelations have emerged. According to the group, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, reportedly claimed that the wife of a former minister was paid ₦48 billion within a year “to train Niger Delta women.”
Frustrated by the government’s silence, SERAP and four citizens, Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe, have now filed a suit before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja.
Filed last Friday and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, the suit seeks “a declaration that the failure of the Nigerian government to publish the NDDC forensic report amounts to a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations.”
They also asked the court to compel the government to release the report and ensure public access to it. Additionally, they want the government ordered to put in place effective measures that promote transparency and accountability in the NDDC’s handling of public funds.
In their court filing, the plaintiffs said, “The Nigerian government has violated our right to know the truth about the corruption allegations documented in the NDDC forensic report.”
They added, “The obstruction of the publication of the report is perpetrating impunity and the cover-up of the allegations documented in the report.”
Emphasising the public’s right to be informed, they stated, “Implicit in freedom of expression is the public’s right to open access to information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf, without which truth would languish and people’s participation in government would remain fragmented and illusory.”
The plaintiffs also argued that the government had neither released the report nor explained why it remained hidden. According to them, this violates Nigeria’s legal obligations to uphold transparency and the public’s right to information.
READ ALSO: SERAP to Tinubu: Publish NDDC Audit, Prosecute Those Blocking It
“There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report,” they said.
“The Nigerian government’s continuing failure to publish the NDDC forensic report denies the plaintiffs the ability to truly study the report and hold the government to account, as well as damages the rule of law and violates the plaintiffs’ other rights.”
They stressed that the report does not contain classified information related to national security. Rather, they said, it relates to issues of corruption, transparency, and human rights, making its disclosure a legal requirement under international treaties Nigeria has signed.
The suit further argues, “Access to public information is a fundamental human right protected by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which require the Nigerian government to respect, promote and ensure it.”
They added, “Access to information is a basic tool for building citizenship, and the plaintiffs have the right to participate in matters of public interest, such as pursuing accountability and justice for victims of corruption documented in the NDDC forensic report.”
“These matters of public interest are part of the ideals underlying the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.”
The plaintiffs also argued that access to the NDDC audit report would not only strengthen democracy but also help citizens hold their leaders accountable and fight corruption more effectively.
They said the government must follow “the principles of maximum disclosure and good faith,” and that secrecy should be the exception, not the rule.
While acknowledging that certain information can be withheld for legitimate reasons, the plaintiffs insisted that such exceptions must be narrow and clearly defined in line with international standards.
The burden, they said, lies with the government to prove why the NDDC audit report should remain secret.
“The denial of access to information regarding the NDDC forensic report is a violation of the plaintiffs’ right to a legal remedy and incompatible with the requirements of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the suit read.
As of press time, no date has been set for the hearing.