SERAP Sues FG Over Planned Payment Of N729bn To Poor Nigerians
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to order the federal government to make public details of the proposed payments of N729billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians.
SERAP is also urging the court, in the Freedom of Information suit, to compel the government to disclose the mechanisms and logistics for the payments, list of beneficiaries, and how they have been selected, and whether the payments will be made in cash or through Bank Verification Numbers or other means.
The civil society organisation is also praying the court for an order directing and compelling the federal government to explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months, which translates to five-percent of the country’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.
SERAP is also asking the court for an order directing and compelling the federal government to clarify whether the proposed payment to poor Nigerians is part of the N5.6 trillion budget deficit.
The respondent in the suit, which is yet to be assigned to a judge, is Ms Sadia Umar-Farouk, minister of humanitarian affairs, disasters management and social development.
SERAP insisted that, “Disclosing the details of beneficiaries and selection criteria, as well as the payment plan would promote transparency and accountability, and remove the risks of mismanagement and diversion of public funds.”
SERAP Sues FG Over Planned Payment Of N729bn To Poor Nigerians
The organisation further argued that, “Providing support and assistance to poor Nigerians is a human rights obligation but the programme to spend five-percent of the 2021 budget, which is mostly based on deficit and borrowing, requires anti-corruption safeguards to ensure the payments go directly to the intended beneficiaries, and that public funds are not mismanaged or diverted.
“The Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended], UN Convention against Corruption, and African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party require the government to set the highest standards of transparency, accountability and probity in programmes that it oversees.
“The government has a responsibility to ensure that these requirements and other anti-corruption controls are fully implemented and monitored, and that the payments are justified in light of the huge budget deficit and borrowing, and whether there are better ways to spend N729bn to support poor Nigerians.
“The Federal Government has repeatedly failed to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public wealth and resources.
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