Abuja high court orders federal government to explain what happened to $460m Chinese loan

GOVERNMENT ministered have been ordered by an Abuja high court to account for what happened to a $460m Chinese loan acquired in 2010 to  fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project.

In Friday, a federal high court in Abuja not only asked the government to account for the money but to also ordered it to publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors and specific details of the names of the companies and contractors and status of the implementation of the project. Justice Emeka Nwite made the orders while delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (Serap).

This suit followed the disclosure by finance minister Zainab Ahmed  in 2019 that Nigeria was servicing the loan. She added that she had no explanations on the status of the project or information on the status of the CCTV project.

In his judgment, Justice Nwite agreed with Serap that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government. He ruled that accounting for the spending of the $460m is in the interest of the public it will be inimical for the court to refuse Serap’s application for judicial review of the government’s action.

Justice Nwite said:  “The minister of finance is in charge of the finance of the country and cannot by any stretch of imagination be oblivious of the amount of money paid to the contractors for the Abuja CCTV contract and the money meant for the construction of the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). Serap’s core objectives are to promote human rights, transparency and accountability and anticorruption in Nigeria.

 “I am of the humble view that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government through the minister of finance and I so hold that Serap has made out a case to be entitled to the reliefs sought. The law is well settled that where a document or letter is sent by post, it is the law that same is taken or presumed to have been delivered.

“Following this principle of law and relying on exhibit OS2, Serap’s Freedom of Information request sent to Ms Ahmed is deemed to have delivered. Therefore, the averment by the government through her that they were not served with the letter is hereby discountenance. I so hold.”

Joined as defendants in the suit are Ms Ahmed and the minister of police affairs. Justice Nwite granted three orders of mandamus against the Nigerian government, including one compelling the government to provide the details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5bn mobilisation fee reportedly paid to the contractors for the construction of the CCB headquarters in Abuja was part of another loan from China.

Serap deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: “The onus is now on President Buhari to immediately comply with the court’s orders. We commend Justice Nwite for his courage and wisdom and urge President Buhari and Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation and justice minister to immediately obey the court orders.”