Order FG to publish loan details – SERAP urges court

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to order President Muhammadu Buhari to publish details of loans that have been obtained by the government since May 29, 2015.

SERAP said the details of the loans should include interest rates, total amount of debts that have so far been incurred by the government, as well as details of the projects on which the loans had been spent.

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Joined as respondents in the suit are Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; and Ms. Patience Oniha, Director General (DG) of the Debt Management Office (DMO).

SERAP is seeking, “An order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to tell Nigerians the names of countries and bodies that have given the loans, specific repayment conditions, and whether any public officers solicited and or received bribes in the negotiations for any of the loans, and if there is a plan to audit the spending of the loans, to resolve any allegations of mismanagement and corruption.”

According to SERAP, while access to loans can provide indispensable resources, the mismanagement and squandering of any such resources will be counter-productive.

SERAP noted that Nigerians should no longer be made to repay debts incurred in their name but which had not benefited them in any manner, shape or form.

The suit followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information (FoI) request dated May 30, 2020, to President Buhari, expressing “concerns that while governments since 1999 have borrowed money in the name of Nigeria and its citizens, much of the funds have reportedly been mismanaged, stolen or squandered, leaving the citizens with the burden of having to repay these loans.”