Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Nigeria’s 36 state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike to “provide our organization with documents on the spending of trillions of FAAC allocations received by your state and the FCT since 1999, and to widely publish any such documents.”
SERAP also urged them “to invite Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to jointly track and monitor the spending of FAAC allocations by your state and the FCT and to probe any allegations of corruption linked the allocations.”
SERAP’s requests followed reports that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state, and local governments for March 2024 alone. States collected N398.689 billion.
In the Freedom of Information (FoI) requests dated 20 April 2024 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds including FAAC allocations, are spent.”
SERAP said, “Without this information, Nigerians cannot follow the actions of their states and the FCT and they cannot properly fulfill their responsibilities as citizens.”
According to SERAP, “trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT have allegedly gone down the drain. The resulting human costs directly threaten the human rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.”
The FoI requests, read in part: “ensuring that the FAAC allocations received by your state and the FCT are spent to achieve the security and welfare of Nigerians are serious and legitimate public interests.”
“Secrecy in the spending of FAAC allocations received by your state and the FCT is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international anti-corruption obligations.”
“Secrecy in the spending of FAAC allocations received by your state and the FCT also denies Nigerians the right to know how public funds are spent. Transparency in the spending would allow them to retain control over their government.”
“The documents should include the evidence and list of specific projects completed with the FAAC allocations collected, the locations of any such projects and completion reports of the projects.”
Source: SERAP
