Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari of the Federal
High Court in Lagos today ordered the
Federal Government to immediately release
to Nigerians information about the names
of high-ranking public officials from whom
public funds were recovered and the
circumstances under which funds were
recovered, as well as the exact amount
recovered from each public official.
Justice Shagari gave the order while
delivering judgment in a Freedom of
Information suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016
brought before her by civil organization,
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project (SERAP). SERAP had filed the lawsuit
after the Ministry of Information released a
statement last year saying it had recovered
some money from some public officers
from May 2015 to May 2016. SERAP had
approached the Ministry of Information for
a comprehensive list of those that the loots
were recovered from, threatening to take
legal action if the list wasn’t provided
within 14 days.
Upon the expiration of the ultimatum,
SERAP filed the lawsuit. Joined as
Defendants in the suit were the Minister of
Information Alhaji Lai Muhammed and the
Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.
Justice Shagari while delivering judgement
today, granted the following reliefs: -A
declaration that by virtue of the provisions
of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2011, the Defendants are
under a binding legal obligation to provide
the Plaintiff with up to date information
relating to the following: -To widely
disseminate including a dedicated website
information about the names of high-
ranking public officials from whom public
funds were recovered since May 2015, the
circumstances under which stolen public
funds were returned. In the statement
released last year, the Ministry of
Information said the Federal government
had successfully retrieved total cash
amount N78,325,354,631.82, $
185,119,584.61, £3,508,355.46 and €11,
250 between May 29th 2015 to May 25th
2016. Also released were recoveries under
interim forfeiture, which were a
combination of cash and assets, during the
same period: N126,563,481,095.43, $
9,090,243,920.15, £2,484,447.55 and
€303,399.17. Loots stocked in foreign
accounts which were expected to be
repatriated totalled: $321,316,726.1,
£6,900,000 and €11,826.11.
The ministry also announced that 239 non-
cash recoveries were made during the one-
year period. The non-cash recoveries are –
farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted
buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and
maritime vessels. Speaking after the
judgment today, Deputy Director of SERAP,
Timothy Adewale, said the organization will
do everything to ensure full compliance by
President Buhari and acting president Yemi
Osinbajo “The judgment shows the way
forward in the fight against corruption and
impunity of perpetrators. We will do
everything within the law to ensure full
compliance by President Muhammadu
Buhari and Acting President Osinbajo with
this landmark judgment”he said
