A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja last week ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project.
The Court also ordered the government to
publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and
contractors and specific details of the names of the companies and contractors
and status of the implementation of the project.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project (SERAP) disclosed this on Sunday in a statement made available to THE
WHISTLER in Lagos.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the orders while
delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit number:
FHC/ABJ/CS/1447/2019 brought by SERAP.
It would be recalled that SERAP had in
December 2019 filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed
over failure to disclose information and specific documents on the total amount
of money paid to contractors from the $460 million loan obtained in 2010 from
China to fund the Abuja CCTV project.
Ahmed had disclosed that Nigeria was
servicing the loan, adding that she had no explanations on the status of the
project.
In his judgment, Justice Nwite agreed with
SERAP that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government, adding
that accounting for the spending of the $460 million Chinese loan is in the
interest of the public.
Justice Nwite also said that the Minister of
Finance is in charge of the finance of the country and cannot by any stretch of
imagination be oblivious of the amount of money paid to the contractors for the
Abuja CCTV contract and the money meant for the construction of the
headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Justice Nwite also ordered the government to
provide the details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5 billion Naira paid for
the failed contract meant to construct the headquarters of the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB) was part of another loan obtained from China.
“SERAP’s core objectives are to promote human
rights, transparency and accountability and anticorruption in Nigeria.”
“I am of the humble view that there is a
reasonable cause of action against the government [through the Minister of
Finance] and I so hold that SERAP has made out a case to be entitled to the
reliefs sought.”
“The law is well settled that where a
document or letter is sent by post, it is the law that same is taken or
presumed to have been delivered.”
“Following this principle of law and relying
on exhibit OS2, SERAP’s Freedom of Information request sent to Ms Ahmed is
deemed to have delivered. Therefore, the averment by the government [through
her] that they were not served with the letter is hereby discountenance. I so
hold,” Justice Nwite’s judgment read partly.
Joined as defendants in the suit are Ms Ahmed
and the Minister of Police Affairs.
Reacting to the court judgement, the
statement quoted SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare as saying: “The
onus is now on President Buhari to immediately comply with the court’s orders.
We commend Justice Nwite for his courage and wisdom, and urge President Buhari
and Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice
to immediately obey the court orders.”
“This is a victory for justice, rule of law,
transparency and accountability. The judgment shows the way forward in the
fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators. We will do everything
within the law to ensure full compliance by President Buhari with this
ground-breaking judgment on Chinese loans.”
“We call on President Buhari to use the
judgment as the basis for publishing details of spending of all Chinese loans
and other loans obtained by his government since May 2015.”
Nigeria’s total borrowing from China climbed
from $1.39 billion to $4.29 billion between June 2015 and December 2022,
according to data from Debt Management Office (DMO).
Nigeria’s 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) revealed earlier in this year
that the Federal Government will spend N6.31 trillion on debt servicing in
2023, which amounts to about 74.6% of the government’s projected revenue of
8.46 trillion for the year.
There are reports that Nigeria risks losing
key national assets to China in the event that it defaults in paying back loans
obtained from China.
There are also reports that the country may
have defaulted on Chinese loan repayment and stands the risk of paying a
penalty amounting to N41.31 billion.
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