By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A human rights and advocacy organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has expressed worry that its advocacy in the fight against grand corruption through the Freedom of Information Act has not received the response it should have from the Nigerian government.
The organisation said that it has made so much outputs which have received little or no response from the Nigerian government in terms of compliance with court judgements, rulings and respect for the rule of law.
SERAP bared its position on the non complimentary of the efforts by government in a public press briefing held in Lagos on Wednesday titled “Little to No Progress: Stopping Grand Corruption and Impunity in Nigeria”
Addressing the press, SERAP deputy director Oluwadare Kolawole said that SERAP is seriously concerned about the rising rate of poverty and socio-economic inequality in Nigeria which is a result of many years of corruption and mismanagement of the country’s commonwealth and neglect of the socio-economic rights of the people.
He stressed that corruption which is the bane of Nigeria’s development is flourishing with impunity and appears to be winning.
Unfortunately, President Buhari’s government has made little to no progress in fulfilling the promises made to Nigerians to fight grand corruption, end impunity
of perpetrators, respect the rule of law, and ensure access of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians to basic public goods and services, such as quality education and regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.
SERAP noted that access to basic public goods and services such as quality education and regular and uninterrupted electricity supply has become almost non-existent due primarily to systemic and widespread corruption in these sectors.
Speaking on the right to regular electricity supply, the organisation said that it remains a dream for millions of Nigerians as successive governments have failed to increase power generation and provide Nigerians with regular and uninterrupted electricity supply, with many electricity contractors still shrouded in secrecy, and trillions of Naira going down the drain.
“Ordinary Nigerians have continued to pay the price for corruption in electricity sector as the country has remained in darkness, despite huge investment in the power sector”
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari continues to refuse to ensure transparency and accountability for corruption in the power sector, including by failing to probe allegations that over N11 trillion of public funds have been squandered by successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999.
“In our 2019 report titled ” From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are paying the Price for Corruption in the Electricity Sector”, SERAP documents massive and systemic corruption in the power sector. But the government has so far failed and /or refused to implement the recommendations of the report, despite repeated demands.
SERAP pointed out that millions of Nigerians still lack access to free pre-paid meters, while authorities continue to use patently illegal and inordinate estimated billing across the country, thereby increasing consumer costs, and marginalising Nigerians living in extreme poverty, disproportionately affecting women, children and the elderly.
It said, “the government’s failure to take seriously its constititional and international human rights obligation to ensure access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply is further demonstrated by the persistent refusal to obey the judgement of Hon. Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor, which ordered President Buhari to release details of payments to all defaulting and allegedly corrupt electricity contractors and companies since 1999”.
The advocacy organisation noted that Justice Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Lagos had in July 2019, delivered judgement in a Freedom of Information suit number FHC/L/CS/105/19, brought by SERAP, ordering the federal government to disclose and publish the names of companies and the whereabouts of the contractors paid by successive governments to carry out electricity projects but disappeared with the money without executing any projects.
It recall that the World Bank recently approved $500 million to help boost access to electricity in Nigeria and improve the performance of the electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, despite Nigeria’s failure to ensure transparency and accountability in the power sector.
“The World Bank also reportedly approved a $750million loan for Nigeria’s electricity sector in June 2020 to cut tariff shortfalls, protect the poor from price adjustments, and increase power supply to the grid”, SERAP disclosed.
Also briefing the press on widespread corruption in education sector, SERAP deputy director said that many years of unresolved allegations of widespread corruption and mismanagement of funds earmarked for capital development projects have resulted in decreasing quality of education for poor children.
“The resulting education deficit has meant that many politicians send their own children to the best private schools in the country and abroad, thereby leaving behind generations of poor children”.
“This government continues to ignore allegations of corruption in ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s) such as the Universal Basic Education Commission ( UBEC) and the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB’s), despite consistent revelations in the annual reports of the Auditor-General of the Federation”.
SERAP cited example of the 2017 Annual Report by the Auditor-General of the Federation which revealed that UBEC spent N7,712,000.00 to engage external solicitors between January to December, 2015 without due process and the approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
UBEC also reportedly failed to explain the nature of the legal services rendered and the Auditor-General is concerned that UBEC may have engaged ” unqualified solicitors”.
“Unresolved allegations of widespread corruption in the UBEC and SUBEB’s continue to undermine public confidence in the education sector, lead to the erosion of education quality and access, and if not urgently addressed, will lead to an increase in out-of-school children, and exacerbate educational inequalities in the country.
“Investigating the allegations of corruption and mismanagement of Nigeria’s resources in education and electricity sectors, prosecuting suspected perpetrators and recovering any missing public funds would contribute to addressing the systemic and widespread corruption in these sectors, which has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable and marginalized, and entrenched inequality”.
“The fight against corruption is also part and parcel of the 2030 Development Agenda Goal 16.5 calls upon Member States to substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms and Goal 16.4 requires them to significantly reduce illicit financial flows and to strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets. In addition, Goal 16.6 calls upon Member States to develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.
“Lack of progress in the fight against grand corruption and the promise to obey the rule of law is further buttressed by the fact that many high ranking officials suspected of corruption rarely end up in jail, as suspects continue to exploit the flaws in the justice system to the point where individuals are profiting from their crimes.
“The government’s disdain for the rule of law is also illustrated by the tendency to pick and choose which court orders it complies with. This selective application of the rule of law invariably undermines the independence and integrity of the judiciary, and is counter productive to the government’s own fight against corruption”.
SERAP disclosed that it has obtained at least six high profile judgements from court which the Federal Government has refused and/or failed to obey, stressing that persistent and deliberate disobedience of judges’ decisions would ultimately shatter citizens’ confidence in judges’ ability to champion the rule of law.
Consequently, SERAP is asking Nigerian government amongst others to:
Instruct appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate the allegations of missing N11 trillion in the electricity sector since the return of democracy in 1999, and to ensure that suspected perpetrators of corruption are brought to justice and that any missing public funds are fully recovered;
Undertake a thorough impartial and transparent investigation into the power sector privatisation with a view to publishing details of ownership of public stakes of 40 percent in those entities, and should ensure that government/ public resources are not used to subsidize private entities.