Court orders govt, Okonjo-Iweala to account for missing N30tr

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government to “provide information on the spending of the alleged missing N30 trillion which represents some accruable income to the government during the last four years of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.”

The presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, made the order in a Freedom of Information (FoI) suit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

SERAP’s suit followed revelations by the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, that at least N30 trillion “has either been stolen or unaccounted for, or grossly mismanaged over the last few years under the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s watch.”

Justice Buba said: “Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government have no legally-justifiable reason for refusing to provide SERAP with the information requested. The court has gone through the application and agrees that the application has merits and the argument was not opposed.”

This was contained in a statement yesterday by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Olukayode Majekodunmi, that the court agreed with his submission that Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government “should have either supplied the information requested by SERAP or communicated her denial within seven days of receipt of the letter from SERAP if she considers that the request should be denied.”

The statement also quoted the court as ruling, among others: “The process adopted by Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government in this suit is to come by way of demurer. This process has long been abolished by the Rules of this Court. By Order 16 Rule 1 of the Rules of this Court, no demurer shall be allowed and rule 2 provides that a party shall be entitled to pursue by his pleadings any point of law and any point of law so raised shall be disposed by the judge who tries the cause at or after trial.

“The implication of this clear provision of the rule of court is that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government must join issues with SERAP on the originating summons no matter how flimsy, instead of looking for a technical way out. This technical way out has failed.

“The concept of demurer as raised at present by Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government is no longer known to law, especially the Federal High Court of Nigeria. It is the position of the law that the application of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government should fail. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government, having failed to file a counter-affidavit to SERAP’s suit, are deemed to have forfeited that option of filing anything again.

“On the issue of failure to obtain pre-requisite consent of court to issue and serve the originating summons on Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government outside of jurisdiction, Order 6 Rule 31 states that ‘in this order out of jurisdiction means out of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’

“It is also necessary to refer to sections 97 and 99 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act. The provisions apply to the validity of the service and have nothing to do with the validity of the originating process. On the strength of this clear provision, which Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government did not deny and incapable of denying at this point, their objection is dismissed as the validity of the process is not affected in any way.

“The main issue in this court’s view borders on the legal binding obligation imposed on Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act access to a record of information requested. In the case at hand, SERAP through its letter of 2 February 2015, Exhibit A, sought the information relating to the spending of the alleged missing N30 trillion.”

In his reaction, SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said: “This judgment shows the important role that Nigerian courts can play in the efforts to promote transparency in government and combat corruption and the impunity of perpetrators. It also confirms that high-ranking government officials can no longer escape accountability for their action while in office.”