February 9, 2025
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has made good it threat and have filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu over failure to prosecute contractors who allegedly received over N167 billion from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. NBET and 30 other ministries, departments, and agencies, MDAs, for unexecuted projects.
SERAP, had in a statement shared via its official X handle, announced that:
“We’ve sued President Tinubu over the failure to prosecute the contractors who collected over N167 billion from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET) and 30 other ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) but failed to execute any projects,”
The group argues that the non-prosecution of those responsible for the fraud undermines Nigeria’s commitment to fighting corruption.
The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the Tinubu led government to launch a thorough investigation and bring those responsible to book.
READ MORE; SERAP Challenges Tinubu To Publish Names Of Contractors Who Disappeared With 31 MDA’s N167bn
SERAP emphasized that the government has a duty to ensure that public funds are judicious applied. It stated that failure to prosecute those implicated contract fraud would set a bad precedent for financial mismanagement and corruption amongst government agencies.
The group is also urging the court to compel President Tinubu to direct the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to publish details of the projects, locations of the projects for which contractors and companies collected N167 billion, the amount collected by each contractor and company, and the names of the shareholders involved.
The case against President Tinubu demonstrates concerns about Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts. The administration has repeatedly pledged to fight corruption, yet scandals involving government funds continue to surface.
With Nigeria facing economic challenges, accountability for public funds remains a crucial issue. If successful, SERAP’s lawsuit could set a precedent for greater transparency and stricter oversight of public contracts.
