SERAP Drags Tinubu to Court Over Inaction on Alleged N57bn Theft

President Bola Tinubu has been brought before the Federal High Court in Lagos by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for neglecting to order an investigation into the N57 billion that was purportedly stolen from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in 2021.
In particular, SERAP is requesting that the court order Tinubu to order Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to collaborate with the proper anti-corruption organizations in order to look into the purportedly lost public funds as soon as possible.
In the lawsuit that has not yet been assigned to a judge, the organization is also pleading with the court to order the president to order the Attorney General of the Federation to work with the proper anti-graft agencies in order to recover any missing public funds and, if there is enough admissible evidence, prosecute anyone suspected of being responsible for the missing N57 billion.

In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, SERAP said that the government would assist put an end to the impunity of those who commit crimes if it looked into the claims, prosecuted individuals suspected of being involved, and retrieved the money that was lost.
Low-income Nigerians are still burdened by pervasive and enormous corruption in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation as well as other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), the plaintiff pointed out.
According to SERAP, “Citizens experience the effects of corruption on a daily basis.” They must pay more for administrative, educational, and health services as a result of corruption.
Additionally, according to SERAP, the accusations show a grave betrayal of public confidence, in violation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), national anti-corruption legislation, and international anti-corruption commitments.
One of SERAP’s attorneys, Kolawole Oluwadare, filed the lawsuit on the organization’s behalf. The plaintiff said that providing the requested reliefs would be crucial in tackling the country’s debt and budget deficit issues as well as corruption in MDAs.

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According to SERAP, the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation recently released a 2021 audited report that included the scathing findings, stating that “hundreds of billions of naira are also reportedly missing in other MDAs.”
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation “failed to account for over N54 billion intended for paying monthly stipends to Batch C1 N-Power volunteers and non-graduate trainees between August and December 2021,” according to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2021 annual audited report. The ministry also allegedly failed to account for over N2.6 billion allocated for the “homegrown school feeding program during COVID-19,” since “the program was never executed.”
It claimed that five contractors received the money for the purchase, packaging, and delivery of COVID-19 palliatives to the states of Kano, Zamfara, and Abia, but it also stated that no evidence of the money was found.
Without authorization or supporting documents, the ministry allegedly spent more than N78 million on a survey about the ministry’s COVID-19 response to states and vulnerable groups.

The ministry was also charged with failing to report N39.5 million in private donations to various individuals.