[ad_1]
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja “to detain and prevent President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government from borrowing approximately $ 895 billion. Nigerians in the form of their unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances, under the guise of clearly illegal, unconstitutional and discriminatory legislation known as the ‘2020 Finance Law’. ”
The lawsuit followed the federal government’s recent decision to take over and borrow unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances owned by Nigerians at any bank in the country. But the same legislation explicitly excludes dormant official bank accounts of all branches of government and their agencies.
In complaint number FHC / ABJ / CS / 31/2021 filed last Friday, SERAP seeks: “a perpetual injunction order preventing and preventing President Buhari from demanding, repossessing, borrowing and collecting money from Nigerians in the form of their unclaimed dividends and funds in dormant accounts or the transfer and transfer of the money into a trust fund known as the “Unclaimed Fund Trust Fund”.
In the lawsuit, SERAP argues that “the federal government should not be allowed to borrow money from Nigerians. Borrowing unclaimed dividends and funds from dormant accounts owned by ordinary Nigerians would negatively impact their right to an adequate standard of living and access to safe drinking water, quality health care and access to safe living. an education. ”
According to SERAP: “Despite the decline in Nigeria’s oil revenues, the growing level of public debt and widespread poverty, civil servants, including the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and members of the The National Assembly refused to reduce their emoluments, allowances and security votes. At the same time, millions of Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of mismanagement and corruption. ”
The defendants are joined to the lawsuit: Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ms. Zainab Ahmed.
SERAP also maintains that “for there to be a borrower, there must be a lender. The intention to enter into such a borrower-lender relationship should be known to both parties. Any other arrangement that allows a borrower to access a lender’s funds without the lender’s knowledge and without their express consent will amount to theft. ”
According to SERAP: “The federal government has repeatedly failed to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public wealth and resources such as stolen public funds recovered and loans obtained so far, estimated at 31.98 billion dollars, and failed to solve the systemic problem. and widespread corruption in ministries, departments and agencies (MDA). ”
The complaint filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Mrs. Adelanke Aremo, reads in part: “By the combined reading of Article 44 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and the ‘Article 14 of the African Charter of and Peoples’ Rights, the federal government has absolutely no right to borrow money from Nigerians in the form of their unclaimed dividends and funds in dormant accounts without their knowledge and without their express consent.
“The decision to borrow money from Nigerians amounts to unlawful expropriation, as it is neither proportionate nor necessary, especially given the government’s reluctance or inability to end systemic corruption and widespread in MDAs, reduce waste and stop all leaks in public spending. Borrowing is also not in the public interest. ”
“Respect for the right to own property is important to improve the enjoyment of other basic human rights and to lift Nigerians out of poverty. There is a limit to the ability of any government to interfere with private property without legal justification. The right to property is a sacred and fundamental right. ”
“Borrowing dividends and unclaimed funds in dormant accounts without legal process and without the owners’ explicit knowledge and consent is arbitrary and, as such, legally and morally unjustifiable.”
“To create a valid relationship of trust, there must be an explicit agreement between the transferor and the trustee, for the benefit of the beneficiary of the trust. There must also be sufficient evidence of the intention of the setlor to create a trust. The relationship cannot be created arbitrarily. Nor can it be forced or assumed unilaterally, which is what the federal government wants to do in this case. ”
“According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), four in ten Nigerians or more than 82.9 million Nigerians live in poverty.”
“Where government agencies are permitted to operate as a whole and at their whims and whims under the guise of discharging their statutory functions, the end result will be lawlessness, libertinism, authoritarianism and brigandage leading to the loss of the freedom so cherished and guaranteed by the Constitution. and freedom. ”
SERAP is also looking for the following reliefs:
- A DECLARATION that the provisions of Article 60[3] and article 77[1] and [2] of the budget law authorizing the federal government under the leadership of President Buhari to borrow money from Nigerians in the form of unclaimed dividends and funds in dormant accounts and transfer the money into the “non-trust fund of funds”. claimed ”is illegal, unconstitutional and constitutes a violation of the basic human rights of Nigerians, in particular the right to property.
- A DECLARATION that the provisions of Article 60[3] and article 77[1][2] of the finance law, being incompatible with article 44[1] of the Nigerian Constitution, is therefore null and void to the extent of its inconsistency in accordance with Article 1[3] of the Constitution.
- AN ORDER perpetual injunction retaining the defendants, or any other organization, institution or leader[s] acting under their instructions or under their control, to demand, collect or transfer dividends and unclaimed funds in the dormant accounts of beneficiaries and account holders in the unclaimed funds trust fund.
- AND ANY OTHER ORDER (S) which the honorable tribunal may see fit to do in the circumstances of this lawsuit.
No date has been set for the prosecution’s hearing.
Source link
