LAGOS  – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muham­madu Buhari over his failure to publish copy and details of the agreement the Federal Government recently signed with the United States for the repatriation of $23 million stolen by the late dictator, Sani Abacha.

Joined in the suit as respon­dent is the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

Recall that the United States government had in August signed an agreement with the Federal Government to repa­triate $23 million Abacha loot to Nigeria.

The $23 million adds to the $311.7 million Abacha loot re­patriated from the U.S. to Nige­ria in 2020.

In the suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/1700/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari and Mr. Abubakar Malami to release and widely publish copy of the agreement on the Abacha loot with the U.S.”

SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari and Mr. Abu­bakar Malami to publish de­tails of the transparency and accountability mechanisms that have been put in place to ensure that the repatriated funds are not mismanaged, diverted or re-stolen.”

In the suit, SERAP is ar­guing that “the Nigerian con­stitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s inter­national obligations impose transparency obligations on the Federal Government to widely publish the agreement on the $23 million Abacha loot.

“Publishing a copy of the agreement with the U.S. would allow Nigerians to scrutinise it, and to monitor the spending of the repatriated loot to ensure that the money is not misman­aged, diverted or re-stolen.

“The repatriated $23 mil­lion Abacha loot is vulnerable to corruption and mismanage­ment. Substantial part of the estimated $5 billion returned Abacha loot since 1999 may have been mismanaged, di­verted, or re-stolen, and in any case remain unaccounted for.

“Publishing a copy of the agreement would ensure that persons with public responsi­bilities are answerable to the people for the performance of their duties including the man­agement of repatriated loot.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Ko­lawole Oluwadare and Ms. Atinuke Adejuyigbe, read in part: “The Nigerian constitu­tion, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s interna­tional obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.”

However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.