The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit before the Federal High Court, Abuja, regarding the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations since 1999.
SERAP alleges in the suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/666/2024, that despite increased FAAC allocations to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over the years, millions of Nigerians have continued to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.
The suit made available to Nairametrics on Sunday was instituted against 36 state governors and Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.
SERAP also seeks information regarding the list and locations of projects executed with the funds, across the country.
SERAP’s lead counsel, Kolawole Oluwadare, submitted that the suit is based on reports that FAAC disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state, and local governments for March 2024, among others.
Here are the key reliefs sought by SERAP:
1. FAAC allocation spending since 1999
SERAP argues that the disclosure of the spending details of federal and state government allocations is the entitlement of Nigerians.
It is of the view that without the information on the spending details of the FAAC allocations, Nigerians cannot follow the actions of their states and the FCT and they cannot properly fulfill their responsibilities as citizens.
SERAP seeks:
“AN ORDER granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review and seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the 1st to 37th Respondents to provide documents and publish spending details [including evidence and a list of specific projects completed, locations and status of any such projects and details of the salaries and pensions paid] of Federation Account Allocation Committee [FAAC] allocations received by their respective states from 1999 till date,” relief one reads.
2. Proof of established transparency mechanism if any
SERAP contends that the government should be able to tell Nigerians the mechanism it established to update citizens on the progression and completion of projects.
It stressed that Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds, including FAAC allocations, were spent by the governors and FCT minister, adding such information could be accessed if the governments operated transparent systems.
Serap seeks
“AN ORDER granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review and seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the 1st to 37th Respondents to provide details of the transparency and accountability mechanisms that have been put in place to ensure that the trillions of naira of FAAC allocations that their respective states their have received are not embezzled, into private pockets,misappropriated or diverted,” the second relief reads.
3. Anti-graft agencies’ inclusion in tracking FAAC allocation implementation
The public interest advocacy group believes the involvement of anti-graft agencies in FAAC allocation spending will expose corruption timely.
The third relief read, “AN ORDER granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review and seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the 1st to 37th Respondents Independent to invite Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to jointly track and monitor the spending of FAAC allocations by the 1st to 37th Respondents and to probe the allegations of corruption linked to the allocations.”
More Insights
- SERAP is one of the public interest advocacy groups in Nigeria.
- It also relies on litigations to seek court’s intervention in any alleged infraction by government officials and public institutions.
- According to the suit, the removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate by the Federal Government have translated into increased FAAC allocations to states and the FCT, but there is allegedly no corresponding improvement in the security and welfare of millions of Nigerians.
- Nairametrics reports that FAAC recently disclosed the distribution of N1.208 trillion to different government tiers for the month of May 2024
- Since 1999, there have been budgetary allocations running into trillions of naira.
- These allocations are expected to translate to the socio-economic progress of Nigeria and Nigerians.
- However, 2022 data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics(NBS) states that 63% of persons living within Nigeria (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor.
