A lawsuit has been brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against President Muhammadu Buhari for “failing to fully, effectively, and transparently investigate spending on all social safety net and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022.”<\/p>\n
Abubakar Malami, the federation’s attorney general and minister of justice, is named as a respondent in the lawsuit (SAN).<\/p>\n
Despite the government allegedly spending N500 billion annually on “social investment schemes,” a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) makes shocking discoveries that about 133 million Nigerians are poor. Children make up half of the country’s poor population.<\/p>\n
In the suit number FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/2357\/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to \u201cdirect and compel President Buhari to thoroughly and transparently investigate the spending on all social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP is also asking the court to \u201cdirect and compel President Buhari to ensure that suspected perpetrators of corruption and mismanagement of public funds meant to take care of the poor face prosecution, as appropriate, and any stolen public funds are recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, \u201cNigerians have the right to be free from poverty. Allegations of corruption in social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes pose both direct and indirect threats to human rights, and contribute to extreme poverty in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP is also arguing that, \u201cInvestigating the allegations of corruption in the spending on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects and recovering any stolen public funds would serve the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to SERAP, \u201cThe Federal Government has a legal responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how public funds are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP is also arguing that, \u201cThe government has legal obligations to effectively and progressively address and combat extreme poverty as a matter of human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Blessing Ogwuche, read in part: \u201cThe failure to address extreme poverty has resulted in high levels of inequality, and serious violations of economic and social rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NBS report suggests a grave violation of the public trust, and the lack of political will by the government to uphold the country\u2019s constitutional and international human rights obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequences of corruption are felt by citizens on a daily basis. Corruption exposes them to additional costs to pay for health, education and administrative services.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorruption undermines economic development of the country, trapping the majority of Nigerians in poverty and depriving them of employment opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExtreme poverty is the greatest denial of the exercise of human rights, as it denies millions of Nigerians not only their economic and social rights but also civil and political rights such as the rights to life, human dignity, and political participation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe failure to address extreme poverty has resulted in high levels of inequality, and serious violations of economic and social rights of Nigerians, particularly the socially and economically vulnerable sector of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report that 133 million Nigerians are poor suggests corruption and mismanagement in the spending of trillion of naira on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes, including the reported disbursement of over $700 million from the repatriated Abacha looted funds to these programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report also shows that the purported social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes are clearly not working. It also shows a failure by the government to uphold the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights of the Nigerian people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has a sacred duty to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the country\u2019s resources, including the spending of public funds on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSection 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended] provides that, \u2018the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Section 16(1)(a)(b), the government has the obligations to \u2018harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy\u2019, and to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria has also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognize legally enforceable economic and social rights, such as the rights to education, health, safe food and clean water, security, and shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccessive governments have systematically neglected social and economic rights, and failed to address severe poverty and inequality in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe allegations corruption and mismanagement in the spending of public funds on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects would clearly amount to a fundamental breach of national anticorruption laws and the country\u2019s international anticorruption obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey reveals that 65% of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35% (nearly 47 million) live in the South. Poverty levels across States vary significantly, with the incidence of multidimensional poverty ranging from a low of 27% in Ondo to a high of 91% in Sokoto.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NBS also shows that over half of the population of Nigeria are multidimensionally poor and cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy. High deprivations are also apparent nationally in sanitation, time to healthcare, food insecurity, and housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A lawsuit has been brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against President Muhammadu Buhari for “failing to fully, effectively, and transparently investigate spending on all social safety net and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022.” Abubakar Malami, the federation’s attorney general and minister of justice, is named as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":208049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"custom","single_blog_custom":"211693","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"single-left","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"floatbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":{"override_bookmark_button":"0","override_show_bookmark_button":"0"},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53605,115,22169,1495,53606],"class_list":["post-237339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-133m","tag-buhari","tag-poor-nigerians","tag-serap","tag-social-intervention-programmes"],"yoast_head":"\n