Due to his alleged reluctance to prosecute contractors who collected over N167 billion from 31 ministries, departments, and parastatals of government for projects that were never carried out, President Bola Tinubu is facing legal action from the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.
The lawsuit, filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos (suit number FHC/L/MISC/121/2025), also listed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, as a respondent.
A press statement on Sunday with the title “SERAP Sues Tinubu Over Failure to Prosecute Contractors in N167bn Project Fraud in MDAs” went into depth about this.
Kolawole Oluwadare, the deputy director of SERAP, signed the statement, which calls on the court to order Tinubu to compel Wale Edun, the minister of finance and the economy’s coordinating minister, to publicly identify the contractors in question and see to it that they are prosecuted.
The organisation court ordered Edun to disclose information about the projects, such as their locations, the sums paid to each contractor, and the names of the shareholders.
“The allegations of corruption involving these contractors have continued to impair, obstruct, and undermine the access of poor Nigerians to essential public goods and services,” SERAP argued in its suit.
The Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2021 Audited Report, which was released on November 13, 2024, said that 31 MDAs spent a total of more than N167 billion for projects that were never done, according to SERAP.
Notably, it has been revealed that N100 billion has been paid to businesses for unfinished projects by Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. alone.
Other MDAs implicated include:
- Nigerian Correctional Service
- National Pension Commission, Abuja
- Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri
- Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) Office
- Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)
- Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development
- Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger State
- National Centre for Women Development
- Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution
- National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB)
- Federal University of Gashua
- Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs
According to SERAP, it is a serious breach of the Nigerian Constitution, anti-corruption legislation, and international commitments under the United Nations Convention against Corruption to permit companies and contractors to escape punishment for embezzlement of public funds.
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“Holding these contractors accountable would help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in public spending,” SERAP stated.
“The consequences of corruption are felt by citizens daily. It forces them to bear additional costs for health, education, and administrative services,” the suit added.
SERAP emphasised that public accountability is a hallmark of democracy and that Nigerians deserve full transparency on how their resources are managed.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case
