SERAP said in suit number: ECW/CCJ/APP/20/20, filed last Friday: “Governor Wike is using COVID-19 as a pretext to step up repression and systematic abuses against the people of Rivers state, including by carrying out mass arbitrary detention, mistreatment, forced evictions, and imposing pervasive controls on daily life.
Browsing: SERAP
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent an urgent appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari urging him to “urgently instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abukabar Malami, SAN to work with appropriate ministries and agencies to identify, publish and use confiscated stolen assets as isolation centres.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent Freedom of Information requests to the 36 state governors, urging them to “urgently provide information on spending details on COVID-19 in your state, and to immediately redirect public funds budgeted for security votes and life pensions for former governors from the state to invest in and improve public healthcare facilities and access to quality education.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has condemned “the blatant intimidation, harassment and attacks on journalists and media houses by Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, and the illegal banning of the Correspondent of The Sun newspaper, Chijioke Agwu, and the Vanguard Newspaper, Peter Okutu, from entering Government house and Government facilities in the State for life.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has given “the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and leadership of the National Assembly 14 days to reverse the proposed illegal cut of N26.51 billion in basic healthcare budget and to cut the National Assembly and Presidency budgets instead, or face legal action.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent an urgent appeal to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, urging them to “immediately make a public commitment to redirect the N37 billion for the renovation of the National Assembly complex to give N1 billion to each of the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as COVID-19 direct reliefs and benefits to the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria to “provide spending details of public funds and private sector donations to provide socio-economic benefits to the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people, including details of beneficiaries of any cash payments, cash transfers, food distribution and other benefits during the lockdown in Abuja; Lagos and Ogun states because of COVID-19.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Federal Government to “publish weekly details of exact funds and other resources allocated by the authorities and received from the private sector, as well as details of use and planned use of any such funds and resources to combat the spread of coronavirus (or COVID-19) in Nigeria.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari urging him to use his leadership position to “urgently instruct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to jointly track and monitor spending by federal agencies and state governors to combat coronavirus or COVID19 pandemic in Nigeria.”
The Federal Government has told the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project that it has no records of the exact amount of public funds stolen by a former military Head of State, Sani Abacha, and no records of the spending of about $5 billion recovered loot between 1999 and 2015.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent “an urgent complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention over the arbitrary detention and degrading treatment of deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi (II), [Sanusi Lamido Sanusi].”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent an open letter to the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, urging him to use his leadership position to “ensure that the bill that would allow ‘repentant Boko Haram terrorists’ opportunities to access public funds to enjoy foreign education is immediately dropped, and to sponsor bills that would ensure access to justice and reparation for the victims of Boko Haram terrorist group.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and 192 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to “restrain and stop Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives and all members of the House from spending an estimated N5.04 billion to buy 400 exotic cars for principal officers and members.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has dragged the government of Nigeria and Cross River State Government of Governor Ben Ayade to ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja “over the prolonged, arbitrary detention; unfair prosecution; persecution, and sham trial of journalist Agba Jalingo.”
There is prospect Nigerians keen on knowing details of payment of life pensions to former governors across the 36 states in the country and the names and number of ex-governors and other officials collecting pensions,
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal Capital Territory High Court to: “declare the life pension edict/law 2019, passed by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) null, void, illegal and unconstitutional; and to restrain and stop AMAC, its chairman; deputy chairman; speaker; legislature and/or their agents from paying life pensions to former officials, and ultimately, to themselves under the edict/law.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court, Abuja to order the 36 State Governors in Nigeria to “publish details and breakdown of payment of pensions to each of the former governors and other ex-officials, and the names and number of ex-governors and other officials receiving pensions under their respective State pension laws between 1999 and 2019.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent a Freedom of Information requests to President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, 36 State Governors and their deputies, urging them to use their good offices to: “Provide information on summary of the assets, specifically property and income, contained in your asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) since your assumption of office.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BudgIT, Enough is Enough and 583 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court, Abuja to “restrain and stop President Muhammadu Buhari and Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning from releasing N37 billion allocated for the renovation of the National Assembly complex to the Federal Capital Development Agency and the National Assembly until an impact assessment of the spending is carried out.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has welcomed the announcement by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari ordering the release of #RevolutionNow protest convener, Omoyele Sowore, and the immediate past National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), from custody.