Nigerian government has told the Federal High
Court in Lagos that the record of spending of
N388.304billion London Paris Club Loan refunds
by 35 states released to the states by Federal
Government to pay overdue pensioners’
entitlements and workers’ salaries “is protected
by professional privilege, and therefore
confidential.”
Accountant General of the Federation Alh.
Ahmed Idris was responding to the suit number
FCH/CS/523/17 filed by Socio-Economic Rights
and Accountability Project (SERAP) seeking “an
order of mandamus directing and/or compelling
the government to publish details of spending of
N388.304billion London Paris Club Loan refunds
allegedly diverted and mismanaged by 35
States.”
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The Federal Government’s response followed the
ruling in June by Justice Muslim Hassan that
SERAP could proceed with the legal challenge to
unravel how exactly 35 states spent Paris Club
loan refunds.
Justice Hassan had while granting leave
stressed that it was important for the
authorities “to come and tell us how they spent
our money”.
Government is now arguing that, “The
relationship between the Accountant General
and the 35 states is professional and
confidential. It is a fiduciary one akin to that
between a bank and its customer and allied
professionals.
“On that score, record of the spending of
N388.304billion London Paris Club Loan refunds
by the 35 states is exempted from publication,
assuming the Federal Government has the
information sought by SERAP.
“The Accountant General does not have custody
or possession of the information or record
relating to the spending of N388.304billion
London Paris Club Loan refunds by 35 states
which the government gave them. The
Accountant General did not release the funds to
the states.
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the
Accountant General argues that assuming we
have the information sought, the government is
not obliged to comply with the request.
“States have exclusive control over their revenue
and expenditure and the Accountant General of
the Federation cannot demand obligatorily from
any tier of government including the 35 states
information how they have spent the Paris Club
refunds.
“SERAP has the right to the information sought
but not to request that the information be
passed to the Attorney General.
“In any case, the Accountant General has no
record of the spending of N388.304billion
London Paris Club Loan refunds by 35 states
and therefore cannot be compelled to release
the record, as the court does not act in vain. An
order of mandamus should not be issued
because it will be unnecessary and not effective
and will not serve the purpose.”
But in its response, SERAP stated that, “Due to
non-payment of overdue pensions and salaries
of workers by the states, citizens have
continued to languish in untold hardship and
poverty. Therefore, there is compelling public
interest in knowing how exactly the Paris Club
loan refunds were spent by the 35 states.
“There is also no professional relationship or
privilege between the Accountant General and
the 35 states as to warrant any duty of
confidentiality on the part of the Accountant
General.
“There must be transparency and accountability
in the spending of the refunds, in line with the
principle of Open Government Partnership (OGP)
to which Nigeria is a signatory.
“In addition, section 15(5) of the Constitution of
Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provides that the
state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse
of power. Citizens must be able to access the
performance of government, and this depends
on access to record about spending of the
refunds by the 35 states.
“Assuming without conceding that the
Accountant General does not have record of
spending of N388.304billion London Paris Club
Loan refunds by the 35 states, nothing stops
the Accountant General from working with other
agencies/ministries to release information on
the spending, especially being the Chief
Accounting Officer of the Federation, and
constitutionally charged with the overall
responsibility of keeping and managing all the
receipts and payments of the Federal
Government.
“The Accountant General cannot therefore say
he is unaware of the spending of the refunds by
the states. Otherwise, this would mean that the
Accountant General is lacking in his duty as
Chief Accounting Officer of the Federation.
“The Accountant General owes no duty of
confidence to the 35 states but rather to the
entire citizens of Nigeria. Disclosure will not
constitute an actionable breach of confidence if
there is a public interest in disclosure which
outweighs the public interest in keeping the
information confidential.”
Government had released N388.304billion of the
N522.74 billion to 35 states as refunds of over-
deductions on London-Paris Club loans.
The amounts received by the states are as
follows: Akwa Ibom N14.5bn; Bayelsa N14.5bn;
Delta N14.5bn; Kaduna N14.3bn; Katsina
N14,5bn; Lagos N14.5bn; Rivers N14.5bn;
Borno N13,654138,849.49; Imo 13bn; Jigawa
13.2bn; and Niger N13.4bn.
Others are: Bauchi N12.7bn and Benue N12.7bn,
Anambra N11.3bn; Cross River N11.3bn8; Edo
N11.3bn; Kebbi N11bn; Kogi N11.2bn; Osun
N11.7bn; Sokoto N11.9bn; Abia N10.6bn; Ogun
N10.6bn.
Plateau N10.4bn; Yobe N10bn; Zamfara N10bn;
Adamawa N4.8bn; Ebonyi N3.3bn; Ekiti N8.8bn;
Enugu N9.9bn; Gombe N8.3bn; Kwara N5.4bn;
Nasarawa N8.4bn; Ondo N6.5bn; Oyo N7.2bn
and Taraba N4.2bn.
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