Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala in court over ‘missing N30tn’
on Tuesday asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to
compel the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, to offer explanation on the N30tn, which
allegedly went missing under her watch.
The suit marked FHC/L/CS/196/2015 came after the
minister allegedly failed to oblige the organisation's
request to furnish it with information as regards the
allegedly missing money pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act.
Okonjo-Iweala had come under the spotlight
following an allegation by a former Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Chukwuma Soludo, that
not less than N30tn had either been missing, or
stolen, or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged
under her watch as the Minister of Finance.
SERAP, in the suit filed through its Senior Staff
Attorney, Olukayode Majekodunmi, insisted that
Okonjo-Iweala, as a trustee of public fund, was duty-
bound in law to render an account of the
controversial N30tn to Nigerians whenever she was
called upon to do so.
The group noted that the Minister of Finance, as a key
functionary in government, had a sacred duty to
ensure that the country's resources and wealth were
used solely to fulfil the basic economic and social
rights of all Nigerians and to achieve the country's
overall socio-economic development.
It said, "Therefore, it is necessary to provide clarity as
to what exactly happened to the missing N30tn if the
Ministry of Finance is to continue to play a leadership
role in the transparent and accountable management
of the country's resources and wealth, and to enjoy
the public trust and confidence essential for the
Ministry's effectiveness and impact."
SERAP said the information it demanded bordered on
"an issue of national interest, public peace and
security, public concern, social justice, good
governance, transparency and accountability," which
Okonjo-Iweala was duty-bound to volunteer.
The organisation added that the minister would
suffer no injury or perjury if she offered the
information as requested.
It maintained that the request was in line with the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
It said, "By virtue of Section 4 (a) of the FOI Act, when
a person makes a request for information from a
public official, institution or agency, the public
official, institution or agency to whom the application
is directed is under a binding legal obligation to
provide the applicant with the information requested
for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7
days after the application is received.
"By Sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the FOI Act, there is a
binding legal duty to ensure that documents
containing information relating to spending of the
alleged missing N30tn is widely disseminated and
made readily available to members of the public
through various means."
SERAP is seeking a declaration of the court that by
virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2011, the Okonjo-Iweala
was under a binding legal obligation to provide it
with up-to-date information relating to the spending
of the alleged missing N30tn, which represented
some accruable income to the Federal Government
in the past four years.
It asked the minister to avail it any receipt, "however
described arising from the operation of any law; any
return, however described, arising from or in respect
of any property held by the government of the
federation; any return by way of interest on loans
and dividends in respect of shares or interest held by
the government of the federation in any company or
statutory body."
The court had yet to fix any date to hear the
application.
0 Comments: