A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered President Bola Tinubu to compel the Attorney General of the Federation to publish the names of individuals allegedly implicated in the misappropriation of more than N6tn intended for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2000 and 2019.
In a ruling delivered on 10 November, Justice Gladys Olotu also directed the president to make public the long-delayed NDDC forensic audit report, submitted to the federal government in September 2021. The judgment was formally obtained last Friday after the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) pursued a Freedom of Information suit it filed four years ago.
Justice Olotu held that both the audit report and the list of those indicted are “public records” under the Freedom of Information Act and cannot be withheld under any exemption outlined in the law. She said disclosure was essential, given that the case centres on the management of substantial public funds.
“The refusal of the President and the Attorney General to publish the audit report or act on the allegations, despite formal demand by SERAP, constitutes a breach of their statutory duties,” the judge said, citing the FOI Act, Section 15(5) of the constitution, and Nigeria’s international obligations to uphold transparency.
The court underscored that citizens have an unequivocal right to access information held by public authorities, and that government bodies carry a non-discretionary duty to provide such records when requested.
SERAP welcomed the ruling as a “ground-breaking victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds”. The organisation’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged Tinubu to comply immediately.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, described the judgment as “one of the most patriotic public interest litigations ever undertaken in Nigeria”, warning that any failure to act promptly would weaken the fight against corruption and erode confidence in the rule of law.
In a letter sent to the presidency on 22 November, SERAP called on Tinubu to implement the orders without delay, arguing that doing so would signal the administration’s commitment to openness and accountability at a time of heightened public concern over corruption in the NDDC.
