Judge To Former Humanitarian Affairs Minister: Account For N729 Billion Payments

The former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Ms Sadia Umar-Farouk has been ordered to account for payments of N729bn to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months.

The order came from Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, while passing judgment on the Freedom of Information suit marked FHC/L/CS/853/2021, initiated by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP.

Justice Dipeolu equally directed the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state.

The judge held that “The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to provide information to any person, including SERAP. 

“I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021.”

The judge also mandated the former minister to “provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.

“Explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigeria’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.”

Justice Dipeolu also stated, “The minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. 

“SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has in line with Sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act prayed this court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought.”

The judge threw out the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments. 

The judgment, dated June 27, 2024, read in part: “Where a statute provides for a particular act to be done or performed in a particular way, failure to perform the act as provided will not only be interpreted as a delinquent conduct but will be interpreted as not complying with the statutory provision.”

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