The Mundubawa country home of former governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has been gutted by Fire, destroying the sitting room of his second Wife, Halima Shekarau.

Although the fire was suspected to have started from the kitchen, the actual cause could not be immediately ascertained.

Officials of the State Fire Service struggled to put it off.

A source close to the family told our correspondent that the fire started from the inner kitchen.

He said, “we thank God the fire only affected one of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau’s sitting roomm and already the Fire Service officials are working to quench it.”

The spokesperson of the State Fire Service confirmed the Incident.

“We are still at the house and you know I cannot comment on anything now because we are still trying to make sure that the fire didn’t spread to other places”, he added.

The value of Nigeria’s currency in circulation has risen to N3.87tn at the end of March.

According to the latest money and credit statistics on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the currency in circulation was N3.87tn, higher than N3.69tn in February and N3.65tn in January.

However, currency outside banks have also increased progressively during the first quarter, growing from N3.28tn in January to N3.41tn and N3.63tn in February and March, respectively.

The data revealed that over 90 per cent of currency in circulation is held outside of the banking system, indicating Nigerians are holding more cash.

In their personal statements, one of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN at their March meeting, Muhammad Abdullahi, posited that the apex bank had identified high currency outside banks as one of the monetary drivers of the country’s inflation.

He said, “From available data, prices of domestic food items remain the major driver of headline inflation because of supply shortages and high cost of logistics and distribution.

“While this cannot be directly influenced using monetary policy tools, the bank’s response to the drivers of headline inflation is targeted at addressing identified monetary drivers such as money supply growth,

exchange rate depreciation and Currency-Outside-Banks, the combined impact of which will dampen inflationary pressure significantly.”

In January 2024, at the height of the currency redesign policy, currency in circulation stood at N1.386tn with the percentage of the cash outside the banks standing at 57 per cent at N792.184bn.

By February, the cash outside banks rose to N843.311bn, representing 85.9 per cent of the N982.097bn that was in circulation.

It dropped further in March to 85.8 per cent with N1.445tn of the N1.683tn CIC, outside the banking system.

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 40-year-old male worshipper identified as Abiola, otherwise known as Aro, who was accused of defiling a 14-year-old minor (name withheld) at the Olorunloba Mosque restroom located on Ondo Road in the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State.

Before Saturday’s incident, the suspect had been a member of the mosque for more than 15 years, according to information obtained exclusively by PUNCH Metro.

Following the completion of the afternoon Muslim prayer in the mosque, our correspondent learnt that the incident happened on Saturday, March 4, 2024, at about 2:20pm.

Based on the information provided to the police officers at the Igbeba Division, the survivor claimed that she needed to relieve herself and went to the mosque’s bathroom to pass the stool.

She, however, explained that she heard a knock on the door shortly after she entered the restroom.

The survivor further claimed that she was startled when she opened the door and discovered Aro standing by it, even though she had assumed the knock was from her younger brother, who had also come for the prayer.

She told the police that she was trying to find out why Aro was in the women’s restroom when she surprisingly saw him by the door. He was said to have then allegedly shoved her back into the restroom and forced her up against the wall.

A police source who was privy to the report but craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the press told our correspondent that despite the survivor’s cries and pleas, Aro removed her pants violently and pinned the teenager to the toilet wall before having carnal knowledge of the girl.

A police document exclusively made available to PUNCH Metro on Sunday about the report of the incident partly read, “As a result of what Aro did, the survivor started bleeding uncontrollably from her private parts. She went back home to report the matter to her guardian, who took her to a general hospital in the area for medical attention.”

Following the suspect’s arrest, he was detained, according to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, who also informed PUNCH Metro that the case would be forwarded to the State Criminal Investigation Department for additional investigation.

“The suspect has been arrested and detained for alleged defilement. He will be transferred to the State CID in Abeokuta immediately after the preliminary investigation is completed,” Odutola stated via a WhatsApp message on Sunday.

A related incident occurred on April 26, 2024, according to PUNCH Metro report, when the command detained two brothers, Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, for suspected gang rape in Oke-Eri, Atan-Ijebu.

One of the suspects had tricked the survivor into coming to their apartment, where he allegedly assaulted her sexually and threatened to kill his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife after he refused to take part in the crime.

Noibi was said to have also filmed the moment his brother was allegedly having unlawful sexual intercourse with the survivor.

The Nigerian government plans to impose stricter rules on cryptocurrency platforms to defeat the Naira against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.

The development comes as the Director General of Nigeria Securities and Exchange, Emotomtimi Agama, will meet with local and international crypto exchanges on Monday.

Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria, BICCoN, chair, Lucky Uwakwe disclosed this in a statement.

The planned regulations became necessary after the Nigerian government lifted the suspension on cryptocurrency in December 2023.

“Everyone’s presence and insights are invaluable as we collectively navigate the regulatory terrain and strive toward fostering an environment conducive to innovation and growth within the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector,” he said.

The meeting comes amid the continued clampdown on Binance, OctaFX, and other cryptocurrency platforms based on the undermining of Naira in the forex market.

Recall that barely five days ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria stopped OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint from onboarding new customers over allegations of accounts being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.

Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, in a briefing at the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, said $26 billion was funnelled through cryptocurrency without a trace.

The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has promised a review of the law punishing suicide attempts.

He gave the promise when he received a delegation from the Asido Foundation, a non-governmental organisation promoting mental health advocacy and reforms to improve awareness, reduce stigma and discrimination and empower persons with mental disorders and their families.

The AGF said health is one of the priority areas of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The law is something we have to take a second look at, especially where it is established that the offenders are not in the right state of mind. What the offenders need is pity, treatment and love to rid society of this kind of situation. But whatever we do is not binding on the states. So, I will take the case to the Body of Attorneys General,” Fagbemi said.

He promised to take up the issues around the Mental Health Act with his colleagues in the Federal Ministry of Health.

Earlier, the founder of Asido, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, sought the help of the AGF in reviewing the law sentencing people for attempted suicide and the implementation of the Mental Health Act signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2023.

Abdulmalik said medical evidence had shown that all over the world, 80-90 per cent of those who attempted suicide had a background of mental illness, especially depression.

“It is their sense of hopelessness that makes them get to the edge, where they think they are better off dying. In that situation, what they need is help and treatment, not punishment and incarceration. We know the workload is heavy for our judicial officers. We don’t want them overburdened with cases that should ordinarily go to hospitals,” he added.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted 511 jumbo sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 4,752kg concealed in the gas tank compartment of a truck along the Abuja-Abaji highway.

The agency in a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the operatives on a stop-and-search operation along the highway on Wednesday, May 1, intercepted the 40-ft gas tanker marked RBC 77XG and upon a thorough search discovered the sacks.

Babafemi added that four suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure.

The statement read in part, “NDLEA operatives on a stop-and-search operation along Abuja-Abaji highway on Wednesday, May 1 intercepted a 40-ft gas tanker marked RBC 77XG and upon a thorough search discovered 511 jumbo sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 4,752kg concealed in the gas tank compartment of the truck.

“The consignment was loaded into the tanker in Ondo State and meant to be delivered in Abuja for further distribution. Four suspects: Efe Abel Mikel, 39; Ebigide Cyril, 29; Ejechi Monday, 41; and Friday Benson Chukwudi, 39, have been arrested in connection with the seizure.”

Babafemi stated further that the agency smashed an international drug syndicate with networks in parts of Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand.

According to him, no fewer than five members of the cartel were arrested in a two-week intelligence-led operation in Lagos, Abia and Anambra states following the seizure of their illicit drug consignments at the NAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

He said, “The unravelling of the drug cartel started on Sunday, April 20, when their cargo of four big suitcases arrived at the NAHCO shed on an Airpeace airline flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. After days of close monitoring and investigation, the first suspect, Umeh Chisom Peter, was arrested on Wednesday, April 24, after he showed up to pick up two of the suitcases containing Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis owned by a Thailand-based member of the syndicate, Obum Michael. The consignment of four parcels was concealed in false bottoms of the two suitcases, while the four suitcases contain a total of 17.6 kilograms Loud and drug candies.”

He added that another member of the syndicate, Mrs Chinwendu Uche Ugbe whose South Africa-based husband, Aloysius Uche Ugbe, sent some of the consignments, was traced to Anambra State where the NDLEA officers arrested her on Saturday, April 27, while attempting to collect the drug parcels sent to her by her husband.

“Two other suspects: Onyejiakor Francis Chimezie and Nnaji Valentine Chukwukere, with links to the cartel, were also arrested in parts of Lagos on Monday, April 29. Their arrest led to another operation in Abia State where Mrs. Chinazo Osigwe was arrested when she was to pick up some of the parcels containing Loud and drug candies sent by her husband, Osigwe Chidiebere Anthony, who is equally operating from South Africa.

“While two suspects: Aminu Umar, 25, and Anas Umar, 22, were arrested with 207.1 kilograms of cannabis sativa in their house at Unguwan Rimi, Basawa, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State on Monday, April 29, Bashir Umar, 35, was nabbed at Ladanai, Hotoro area of Kano on Friday, May 3 with 194 bottles of codeine syrup,” the statement added.

The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday said the Nigerian Government was “solely expediting action on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway due to the business ties between President Bola Tinubu and Gilbert Chagoury, the owner of Hitech.”

Chagoury is the contractor responsible for the highway project.

Atiku said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract was granted in violation of procurement regulations. 

In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku disclosed that the involvement of Tinubu’s son and his associates on the boards of companies belonging to Chagoury presents a clear conflict of interest.

Atiku also claimed that Tinubu’s son, Seyi, is a director on the board of CDK Integrated Industries.

The former Vice President said instead of “enhancing the ease of doing business, the Tinubu government had allegedly demonstrated to the global community that his business endeavours and those of his family would consistently take precedence over national interests.”

Atiku claimed that the project being done with more than $13 billion was awarded without competitive bidding.

Atiku also claimed that the “so-called’ Badagry-Sokoto highway would be awarded similarly at an enormous cost to taxpayers purely because Tinubu had put his interest ahead of the Nigerian people.

Atiku said the demolition of tourist and recreational facilities and other properties within the Oniru corridor, including parts of Landmark, without ample notice, “is one of the reasons foreign direct investments continue to elude the country.”

He added that in more orderly environments, “establishments like Landmark would have been provided with a minimum of two years’ notice to facilitate proper planning.”

In an attempt to put an end to the fuel scarcity that has lingered for about two weeks across the country, petroleum marketers on Sunday advised the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to continue its emergency fuel supply for another two weeks.

This came as the NMDPRA disclosed that about 4,000 trucks laden with Premium Motor Spirit departed Lagos depots for filling stations in various states over the weekend to supply the product.

The Federal Government had, through the NMDPRA, on Wednesday said it began a 15-day emergency fuel supply last week Monday to ensure the commodity circulates across the length and breadth of the country.

The government also disclosed that vessels importing PMS would continue to berth at the shore to discharge fuel to different depots, from where the product would be distributed to different filling stations.

In an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, the South-West Regional Coordinator of the NMDPRA, Ayo Cardoso, said no fewer than 300 million litres of petrol were loaded at various depots in Lagos between Friday and Sunday to reduce the queues in filling stations.

However, it appears the queues have yet to ease off to an appreciable level as many filling stations remain shut in Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Oyo and others due to lack of fuel supply.

Our correspondents report that in some areas where the product was available, marketers sold for as high as N1,000 per litre, thereby causing long queues in stations selling for prices around N600.

Though marketers confirmed that the government was making efforts to reduce the queues in filling stations by ramping up fuel supply, they held that the emergency supply must continue for the next two weeks until the product is available in all the nooks and crannies of the country.

In an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, said the depots and filling stations in the country were currently operating from the bottom of their reservoirs, saying more has to be done to ensure the tanks were filled up.

According to data obtained from the NMDPRA, it was gathered that as of Saturday, a total of 118 million litres of PMS was discharged from different vessels to marketers; being over 2,600 trucks if conveyed by 45,000-litre capacity tankers.

According to the data, Fatgbems Petroleum received 13,688,420 litres from the SL Aremu vessel. From Binta Saleh, A.A. Rano Oil and Gas got 27,485,750 litres, while STI Yorkville discharged 49,069,623 litres of PMS to NIPCO, Total, 11 Plc and NRL, through the ASPM jetty.

Also, MT Watson discharged a total of 27,295,511 litres to Bono Energy and Asharami.

According to the promise of the NMDPRA that vessels would continue to berth for 15 days, Cardoso told our correspondent that the vessels were discharging the product for onward delivery to retail outlets across the nation.

At Cluster 1 in Apapa on Saturday, it was said that AITEO was allocated 23 trucks; MRS, 49 trucks; OVH/NRL, 45 trucks; NIPCO, 61 trucks of PMS, and 11 Plc, 77 trucks. Others include Ardova and Total JV.

Our correspondent gathered that the Total terminal in Apapa was programmed to receive the product from Golden Dahlia, from where HOGL Energy also received PMS on Saturday.

At Cluster 2 in Ibafon, T-Time Petroleum reportedly got 25 trucks, containing 1,196,000 litres of PMS, while Fatgbems received 20 trucks containing 780,000 litres of the product.

Eighteen trucks of 598,000 litres were allocated to Techno Oil and Bono received 32 trucks of 1,535,000 litres. MRS Limited also got 170 trucks of 8 million litres from Ibafon.

Similarly, at Cluster 3 in Ijegun, the Pinnacle Oil and Gas was allocated 312 trucks and A.A. Rano got 129 trucks of PMS, 111 trucks of which were loaded on Friday.

The PUNCH reliably gathered that 128,236 metric tonnes of PMS, about 170 million litres, was awaiting haulage as of Saturday. The haulage was meant to be carried out by MT Keonamex, 20,172MT; MT Stena Immaculata, 18,955MT and MT STI Stability 89,109MT.

On Sunday, Cardoso informed our correspondent that T-Time Petroleum loaded 20 trucks of 1,000,000 litres; Fatgbems got 42 trucks of 1,850,000 litres; Techno Oil received nine trucks of 347,001 litres; Bono Energy, 22 trucks of 1,004,000 litres, while MRS Ltd loaded 180 trucks, being 8,500,000 litres of petrol.

In all, it was gathered that about 4,000 trucks of PMS flooded filling stations between Friday and Sunday.

Cardoso disclosed that six PMS vessels berthed across six jetties on Sunday, four out of which discharged a total of 187 million litres of PMS.

“The remaining two vessels that will hopefully commence after completion of the protocol prescribed in the SOP for Jetty Operations are laden with approximately 150 million litres,” he said.

The NMDPRA regional coordinator said he and his team have been on the field to ensure even distribution of the products, assuring Nigerians that PMS would soon get to all filling stations.

While warning against panic buying, Cardoso said the agency would continue to monitor the situation to ensure strict compliance.

 Ex-depot prices

Cardoso also released the ex-depot prices of the product, which ranged from N556 per litre to N645.

The ex-depot price is the price of a product, in this case, petrol, at the depot or storage facility where it is held before being transported to filling stations.

 In other words, the ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold to marketers or distributors at the depot, excluding the cost of transportation, taxes, and other charges. It is the wholesale price of the product before it reaches the consumer.

Other additional costs, such as transportation, taxes, and profit margins, are added to the ex-depot price to determine the final retail price paid by consumers at the pump.

According to the data supplied by Cardoso, the NNPC Retail has the lowest ex-depot price of N556/litre, followed by OVH/NRL at N556.5/litre.

Others are 11 Plc, N599; NIPCO, N623; AITEO, N589.50; MRS Plc, N598; Ardova, N585; T-Time Petroleum, N610; Fatgbems, N597; Techno Oil, N600 and Bono Energy, N645/litre.

Marketers seek supply

Speaking with our correspondent, the MEMAN Executive Secretary, Isong, expressed the belief that there was an increase in supply, adding that the queues will disappear if the government keeps the tempo.

He explained, “I think the tanks were really down. So, when you restore supply, the queues will disappear. There are five reservoirs of petrol; the last reservoir is the one in the tank of a car. You can operate from the top or bottom of your tank. In the recent past, petrol stations have been operating from the bottom of their tanks. If a petrol station has two 45,000-litre tanks and it has only five or 10,000 litres, it is operating from the bottom of its tank. That is the second reservoir.

 “The third reservoir is what they call ‘goods-in-transit’. If the supply chain is working correctly, then at any point in time, we should have a thousand trucks on the road delivering products. That is another reservoir, the same thing for the pipelines. If the pipeline is full, that is another reservoir. That is the transportation.”

He added, “After that, we have the depots. If the depots are full, that is the biggest reservoir you have. We then have the vessels, whether it is the mother vessel or daughter vessel. That is another couple of million litres. Sometimes, if the cut in your supply chain is such that one of those reservoirs is empty, it will not be too difficult to come back. But in a world in which all your reservoirs are already operating from the bottom of the tanks; people don’t have enough in their tanks, you don’t have enough goods in transit, you don’t have enough in the tanks of the filling stations, you don’t have enough in the depots over some time; when you have this kind of challenge of scarcity, you really need to flood the market with 150 to 200 per cent of the normal supply for two to three weeks so that everything fills up.”

 Isong emphasised that the filling stations needed to be full, saying there were times in filling stations when trucks would be waiting to discharge because the underground tanks were still full.

“When you have that, it means you have filled up your complete supply chain. But where everything is just at the bottom of the tank, if one thing goes wrong, the entire supply chain dries up again. I think that is the stage that we’ve got to. We need to ramp up supply significantly in the country to about 200 per cent for about two weeks so that the entire supply chain becomes robust again. That way, we can avoid this sort of challenge,” the MEMAN leader stated.

Fillings stations shut

Meanwhile, some filling stations in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, closed their shops due to the non-availability of PMS.

It was also observed that taxi drivers refused to buy from stations willing to sell the products at a rate they considered to be too exorbitant.

This hike in price had however, caused motorists to queue for long hours at a few filling stations such as the NNPC at MKO Abiola Junction as well as its Fowobi outlet, where the product was sold for N600/litre.

Our correspondents report that black marketers were still taking advantage of the situation to make brisk business as they sold for between N1,000 and N1,500/litre.

Commercial drivers in the state capital told our correspondent that some of them slept at the few filling stations selling below N700.

When one of our correspondents visited some fuel stations along the Ikotun-Idimu-Egbeda axis, it was observed that two fuel station outlets belonging to the NNPC Retail along the College Bus Stop were selling.

Our correspondents report that one of the NNPCL outlets on the same axis that witnessed a very long queue was selling the product for N680/litre, while the other one with no queues was selling for N840/litre.

An attendant at the outlet that was selling for N840, who gave her name simply as Mary, said, “We are independent marketers, so everyone is selling according to how they bought. The other outlet is a major marketer that is why it is selling for N680/litre”.

Our correspondents report that queues persist in petrol Stations owned by major marketers in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Sunday.

It was observed that long queues of vehicles were common in stations such as NNPC, Total, MRS and Conoil. However, the supply of fuel in the town has improved as stations owned by the major marketers sold PMS between N580 and N650/litre.

Some independent marketers including Amorry, MKJ, Neemam and Tigress were selling fuel for an average of N1,000/litre as vehicles moved in and out of the stations freely without experiencing any delay.

In Sokoto State, the scarcity of petroleum continued as of Sunday, with one litre selling at the rate of N1,150 naira in most of the filling stations.

One of our correspondents who monitored the situation in the state on Sunday gathered that none of the major marketers in the metropolis dispensed the product.

It was observed that almost all the independent oil marketers in the state opened for business, selling a litre of PMS above N1,000. Also, black marketers sold the product for N1,400/litre on Sunday.

Nigerians have continued to appeal to the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to take urgent actions to put an end to the fuel scarcity, which they said is already inflicting more hardships on them.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against Nigeria’s governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike “over their failure to account for N5.9 trillion and $4.6 billion loans obtained by their states and the FCT, and to publish copies of the loan agreements, including details and locations of projects executed with the loans.” 

The suit followed the disclosure last month by Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State that the immediate past administration of Nasir El-Rufai left $587m, N85bn debt and 115 contractual liabilities, making it impossible for the state to pay salaries. 

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/592/2024 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel the governors and Mr Wike to account for N5.9trn and $4.6bn loans obtained by their states and the FCT and to publish copies of the loan agreements, location of projects executed with the loans.” 

SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel the governors and Mr Wike to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC] to investigate the spending of all the loans obtained to date by their states and the FCT.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “It is in the public interest to grant the reliefs sought. Nigerians have the right to see and scrutinise the loan agreements and know the details of how the domestic and external loans obtained by the governors and FCT minister are spent.”

According to SERAP, “Opacity in the spending of the loans obtained by the governors and Mr Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “Many states and the FCT are reportedly spending public funds which may include the loans obtained by them to fund unnecessary travels, buy exotic and bulletproof cars and generally fund the lavish lifestyles of politicians.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “Many states and the FCT are also allegedly mismanaging public funds which may include domestic and external loans obtained from bilateral and multilateral institutions and agencies.”

According to SERAP, “Many states and the FCT reportedly owe civil servants’ salaries and pensions. Several states are borrowing to pay salaries. Millions of Nigerians resident in the state and FCT continue to be denied access to basic public goods and services such as quality education and healthcare.”

According to SERAP, “Transparency in the spending of the loans obtained by the states and FCT is fundamental to increase accountability, prevent corruption, and build trust in democratic institutions with the ultimate aim of strengthening the rule of law.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Ms Valentina Adegoke, read in part: “States and the FCT should be guided by transparency and accountability principles and proactively account for the loans obtained and publish copies of the loan agreements.”

“Widely publishing copies of the loan agreements and spending details of the loans obtained would ensure that persons with public responsibilities are answerable to the people for the performance of their duties in the management of public funds.”

“State governors and Mr Wike cannot hide under the excuse that the Freedom of Information Act is not applicable to their states and the FCT. The legal obligations to publish the information sought are also imposed by the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

“According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, the total public domestic debt portfolio for the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory is N5.9 trillion. The total public external debt portfolio is $4.6 billion.”

“The domestic and external loans obtained by the states and the FCT are vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement. The states and FCT have a responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how any loans obtained by the states and FCT are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.” 

“Directing and compelling the states and FCT to publish copies of the loan agreements would allow Nigerians to scrutinise them, and promote transparency and accountability on the spending of public funds including the loans obtained.”

“Providing and widely publishing the details of the spending of the domestic and external loans obtained by the states and FCT would enable Nigerians to effectively and meaningfully engage in the management of the loans.”

“The constitutional principle of democracy also provides a foundation for Nigerians’ right to know the details of loan agreements and how the loans obtained are spent. Citizens’ right to know promotes openness, transparency, and accountability that is in turn crucial for the country’s democratic order.”

“The effective operation of representative democracy depends on the people being able to scrutinize, discuss and contribute to government decision making, including on the spending of loans obtained by the states and FCT.”

“To do this, they need information to enable them to participate more effectively in the management of public funds by their state governments and the FCT.” 

“The public interest in obtaining information about expenditures relating to the loans obtained by the states and FCT outweighs any privacy or other interest.”

“The oversight afforded by public access to such details would serve as an important check on the activities of the states and FCT and help to prevent abuses of the public trust.”

“There is a significant risk of mismanagement or diversion of funds linked to loans obtained by state governments and the FCT. The accounts of Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT are generally not open to public scrutiny.”

“The Nigerian Constitution, human rights and anticorruption treaties to which Nigeria is a state party also impose obligations on the states and FCT to prevent mismanagement or diversion of public funds including the loans obtained.”

“Many years of allegations of corruption and mismanagement of public funds including the loans obtained by the states and FCT have contributed to widespread poverty, underdevelopment and lack of access to public goods and services.” 

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.