Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has initiated legal action against Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and the 36 State governors in Nigeria due to their failure to provide an account for the purported missing N40 trillion federal allocations designated for local governments in the FCT and the states.
This lawsuit comes in the wake of damning disclosures made by former president Muhammadu Buhari in December 2022, wherein he revealed, “If the money from the Federation Account is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman but the chairman will sign that he received N100 million.”
In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/231/2024, filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is urging the court to “direct and compel the governors to publish details of LGA allocations and actual disbursement of the allocations to local governments in their respective states from 1999 to date.”
Represented by its legal team comprising Kolawole Oluwadare, Andrew Nwankwo, and Kehinde Oyewumi, SERAP asserts that, “Many years of allegations of corruption and mismanagement of federal allocations meant for local governments have contributed to widespread poverty, underdevelopment, and lack of access to public goods and services in several states.”
The lawsuit contends that the governors and Mr. Nyesom Wike have a legal obligation to uphold transparency and accountability in the actual disbursement and expenditure of federal allocations meant for local government areas in the states and FCT, ensuring that these allocations are properly and fully disbursed to the local governments.
According to SERAP’s information, the 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have reportedly received over N40 trillion in federal allocations intended for the 774 local government areas in the country and FCT.
