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Compel Buhari to Publish Loans Taken Since 2015, SERAP Tells Court
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Federal High Court to order President Muhammadu to publish the details of loans taken by his administration since May 29, 2015.
The group in a statement on Sunday said it filed the suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
SERAP also asked the court to order the president to provide details of the interest rate accruing from the debt, the total amount of debts that have so far been incurred by the government, as well as details of the projects on which the loans have been spent.
Respondents in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/785/2020 are the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha.
SERAP also asked the court to “direct and compel President Buhari to tell Nigerians if he would instruct the anti-corruption agencies; Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor the spending of all loans obtained since May 2015.”
The group further asked the court to compel President Buhari to tell Nigerians the names of countries and bodies that have given the loans to Nigeria.
It added that the suit is “permitted under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the Freedom of Information Act; the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party.”
According to the group, the suit followed a Freedom of Information FOI letter it sent to the president in May requesting him to provide spending details of all loans obtained by his government since he assumed office in 2015.
It said it feared the growing national debts of money borrowed in the name of Nigeria may have been mismanaged, stolen or squandered.
The National Assembly had approved an N850 billion loan requested by President Buhari. Another loan of $22.79bn has already been approved by the Senate. Mr Buhari had also sought the National Assembly’s approval for a fresh loan of $5.513bn to fund the 2020 budget deficit, critical projects, and support some states.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said the Nigerian government has the capability to pay back loans collected for the construction of rail projects within the stipulated period of 20 years.
He made the remarks following an investigative hearing held last week by the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols, and Agreements probing loans taken by the government.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
