The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu’s administration for failing to publish details of loans obtained by previous administrations. The organization is challenging the government’s failure to disclose spending details of loans acquired by former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari.
The lawsuit, filed against the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Debt Management Office (DMO), seeks to compel the Tinubu government to publish the loan agreements and spending details of these loans, including interest and other payments made. The case, numbered FHC/L/CS/353/2024, was filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
SERAP argues that transparency is essential for democracy and public accountability, stating, “No one should be able to pull curtains of secrecy around decisions on the spending of public funds which can be revealed without injury to the public interest. Democracy requires accountability and accountability requires transparency.”
The organization contends that publishing these details would enable citizens to judge their government’s performance and understand why, despite significant loans, many Nigerians still face extreme poverty and lack basic public services. According to SERAP, this information is vital for citizens to influence government direction and assess its progress.
The lawsuit, filed by SERAP’s lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Andrew Nwankwo, asserts that publishing the loan agreements would improve public accountability in government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). It emphasizes that Nigerians have a right to information about their government’s actions, stating, “Publishing the loan agreements signed by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and widely publishing the agreements would allow Nigerians to scrutinize it and to demand accountability for the spending of the loans.”
SERAP highlights that Nigeria’s Debt Management Office reports a total public domestic debt portfolio of N97.3 trillion ($108 billion), with the Federal Government’s debt at N87.3 trillion ($97 billion). The country paid billions in interest on loans from 2015 to 2019. SERAP suggests that substantial parts of these loans may have been mismanaged or stolen and remain unaccounted for.
The organization insists that the Tinubu government has a duty to ensure transparency and accountability in loan spending to reduce corruption and mismanagement. It cites the Freedom of Information Act, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as guaranteeing the right to information, including loan agreements.
No date has been set for the hearing of the lawsuit.