The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has, on June 27, 2024 in a landmark judgment, ordered Sadia Umar-Farouk, former minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, to account for payments of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months.The court also ordered the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state.
The judgment was delivered last month by Justice Deinde Dipeolu following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/L/CS/853/2021, brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
Justice Dipeolu ordered the minister to “provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.” He also ordered the minister to “explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigeria’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.
The judge dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the minister.