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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.
US President, Donald Trump, has ordered the Pentagon – headquarters of the United States Department of Defense – to prioritize the protection of Christians targeted by ISIS terrorists in Nigeria.
U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, disclosed this on Wednesday while stressing that the mission has quietly led to the killing of ISIS’ second-in-command in Nigeria.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting chaired by President Trump at the White House, Hegseth said:
“To give you a sense of how committed this president is (referring to President Trump), maybe, a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who are being targeted and killed by ISIS in Nigeria.
“He said, Pete, I want the war department to focus on ensuring that we do whatever we can to protect those Christians”.
He further said: “Partnerships like that can take some time behind the scenes, but he never wavered on it. We got the assets there over the last month. There has not been much coverage of this”.
He added that U.S. intelligence gathered during the operation helped lead to the deaths of “hundreds” of ISIS fighters tied to attacks on Christians and threats against the U.S. homeland.
“We killed ISIS’ number two in Nigeria, who is most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target U.S. homeland.
“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the Department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for,” Hegseth concluded.
Controversial social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse aka VeryDarkMan (VDM), has reacted strongly to allegations surrounding the circulation of an alleged audio involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
VDM spoke in a lengthy video posted on social media after comments credited to presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, accused him of disseminating a fake audio related to the President.
In the video, VDM claimed he began receiving several calls warning him not to return to Nigeria following the controversy surrounding the audio clip.
According to him, some associates advised him to remain abroad over fears that he could be arrested upon his return to the country.
Reacting to the development, VDM denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he had the constitutional right to criticise the government and comment on national issues.
He accused government officials of paying more attention to critics on social media instead of addressing pressing security challenges confronting the country.
The activist also criticised the Federal government over insecurity, kidnappings and economic hardship, arguing that Nigerians were facing difficult living conditions across the country.
VDM further alleged that some individuals were attempting to create a narrative to justify possible actions against him because of his criticism of the administration.
He maintained that he would continue speaking on issues affecting Nigerians, particularly insecurity and governance.
During the emotional video, the social commentator repeatedly questioned why government officials were allegedly more vocal about online controversies than incidents of bandit attacks and kidnappings.
He also urged Nigerians to participate actively in the 2027 general elections, insisting that citizens must make decisions based on the performance of political leaders.
The controversy followed comments attributed to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who reportedly stated that VDM should “face the weight of the law” over the alleged circulation of fake audio involving the President.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation from security agencies regarding any planned action against the activist.
By Eric Elezuo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been declared winner of the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The declaration was made at the Trascorp Hilton Hotel, where the final collation of results was made.
The former Vice President polled a total of 1, 846, 370 votes to defeat his closest rival, former Governor of Rivers State, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who scored just over 500 thousand votes. Alhaji Muhammed Hayatu-Deen came third.
