By Ayo Kehinde
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and four concerned Nigerians have dragged the Nigerian government before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over its failure to publish the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The plaintiffs are demanding accountability for the alleged mismanagement of N6 trillion by the commission between 2001 and 2019.
The suit, filed last Friday in Abuja, is seeking a declaration that the refusal to release the report constitutes a violation of Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The four co-applicants alongside SERAP are Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.
The forensic audit was ordered in 2019 by former President Muhammadu Buhari following widespread allegations of corruption within the NDDC.
The move came amid claims that high-ranking officials and politicians were complicit in the massive diversion of funds.
More recently, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, alleged that the wife of a former minister received N48 billion within one year purportedly “to train Niger Delta women.”
In the suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, the plaintiffs are seeking an order compelling the Nigerian government to immediately publish the audit report and implement transparency measures in the management of public funds earmarked for the NDDC.
They also want the court to hold that the non-disclosure of the report undermines the rights of citizens to access public information and participate meaningfully in governance.
According to the court filing by SERAP’s legal team—Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo—the Nigerian government’s refusal to publish the report perpetuates impunity and covers up serious allegations of corruption.
“There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report.
“The continued secrecy around the report damages the rule of law and undermines the plaintiffs’ right to truth and legal remedy,” the suit stated.
The plaintiffs argue that freedom of expression includes the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds, and that access to the NDDC report falls under this protected right, as guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—both of which Nigeria has ratified.
“The principle of maximum disclosure should apply. Transparency must be the rule, and secrecy the exception. The government has provided no legal or security justification for withholding the report,” they said.
The plaintiffs insist that public access to the report would strengthen democratic participation, empower citizens to demand accountability, and combat corruption more effectively.
No date has been fixed for the hearing.
