The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued 36 state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike “over their failure to account for the spending of the N14 trillion fuel subsidy savings they collected from Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations, including details of projects executed with the money, and the completion reports on the projects”.
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP said that the suit, filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, followed reports that the 36 governors and the FCT minister had collected trillions of naira from FAAC allocations as fuel subsidy savings since mid-2023.
It argued that the increased allocations had not translated into improved access to quality healthcare and education for poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The group wants the court to “direct and compel the governors and Mr Wike to disclose the details of the spending of the increased FAAC allocations being savings from the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023″.
It also asked the court to “compel the governors and Wike to disclose details and the location of the projects executed, if any, with the increased FAAC allocations from the savings from the removal of fuel subsidy.
“Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds, including fuel subsidy savings, are spent by the governors and FCT minister.
“The constitutional principle of democracy also provides a foundation for Nigerians’ right to know the spending details of the money collected from the savings from the removal of fuel subsidy”.
SERAP maintained that the “citizens’ right to know promotes openness, transparency, and accountability that is in turn crucial for the country’s democratic order.
“There is a legitimate public interest for the governors and the FCT minister to urgently explain how they have spent the money they have so far collected from the subsidy savings”.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
