The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP has dragged President Tinubu to court over alleged contract fraud in tune of over N167 billion.
SERAP has expressed its displeasure over the president’s failure to order prosecution of contractors who collected money to the tune of N167 billion to execute projects but failed to do so.
Reason for the Lawsuit
According to SERAP, transparency is the key to accountability and the government must disclose information related to the fraudulent contracts. The civil society also identified 31 ministries, departments, and agencies of government that failed to have their projects executed, despite funds committed to the contractors handling those projects.
“Nigerians have the right to democratic governance, to influence government decisions, and to assess progress while holding officials accountable,” SERAP said in the statement.
Ministries identified by SERAP with failed projects
The statement identified several government agencies with failed projects. The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, NBET, alone allegedly paid N100 billion to companies for projects that were never completed.
Other MDAs with failed contracts include the Nigerian Correctional Service, National Pension Commission, Abuja, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, Office and Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF.
Also listed are the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger State, National Centre for Women Development, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Business and Technical Examinations Board, NABTEB, and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
CONCLUSION
SERAP dragging the president to court is for the purpose of accountability and transparency, the organization has called on the presidency to be transparent on all failed and fraudulent projects as a basic tenet of governance. It also decries the poor accountability structure of ministries on government-assigned projects and the extent of fraud and corruption that goes on in the government sector. This move by SERAP is significant in promoting transparency and accountability in government.
