SERAP secures order compelling Saraki, Dogara to be accountable
Again, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has taken up the responsibility of holding government and public institutions to account. A major victory was won at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, when Justice Rilwan Aikawa, ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by SERAP, ordered the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives to account for public funds appropriated as running cost for the National Assembly between 2006 and 2016.The judge, having heard SERAP’s counsel, fixed further hearing for December 12, by which date the motion on notice would be argued.
We commend SERAP for its consistent campaign for honesty, probity, integrity, transparency and accountability by public officials and institutions. Only recently, the non-governmental, not-for-profit civil society organisation had taken the Federal Government to court for failing to stop former governors in the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council from drawing double emoluments from the treasury. On many occasions, SERAP had weighed in on matters of public interest through public statements and legal actions. We commend the judge who did not allow issues like locus standi and technicalities stand in the way of taking the suit as had been the case in many other instances.
The weighty interest of the country and its impoverished citizens should also prevail in matters like this, and we call on the National Assembly to be more open and accountable in its activities, especially in expenditure of public funds. How N500 billion was expended as running cost between 2006 and 2016 cannot be brushed aside by legislators who were elected to hold trust for the public and hold the executive to account.
Profligacy of government officials is a major factor responsible for our underdevelopment. The legislators owe the public a duty to disclose, as SERAP has demanded, how much each senator and member of the House of Representatives earns monthly. It is not enough to arrogantly dismiss those who have alleged they draw huge amounts from the till as detractors. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo described the assembly as corrupt, its members took a swipe at him, describing him as the ‘grandfather of corruption’ without addressing the grain of his submission. The former President alleged that each senator is paid N15 million monthly, while House members draw N10m in a country where the minimum wage is about N200,000 per annum and abject poverty is the lot of the majority. Children of school-going age roam the streets and hospitals are mere consulting clinics.
Also, a suspended member of the House, Abdulmumin Jibrin, cried out that much of the running cost had found its way into the private accounts of members.
The National Assembly is known to be quick at probing into issues that have a whiff of scandal, but has been unduly silent on this issue, before and after SERAP instituted the suit last December. We call on the National Assembly to engage less in defending the indefensible and earn public trust and respect by throwing open its books and activities. There have been questions raised on the purchase of bullet-proof cars for principal officers and general allocation of exotic vehicles to members who have already been paid to purchase same, as well as the undue invocation of esprit-de-corps to muffle the voice of dissenting members.
We urge all Nigerians, especially the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to be vigilant and ensure that the War Against Corruption, a key promise of the Buhari administration, remains on course. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption and all similar treaties, protocols and instruments at the international, regional and sub-regional levels are given full effect in Nigeria. Similarly, as SERAP has pointed out, the Code of Conduct for Public Officials Act has become too weak and should be urgently reviewed to raise the bar of morality for those saddled with the task of governance.
The Federal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation have a duty to live up to the expectation of watching out for the public, not narrow, partisan interests. In giving legal advice, supporting the anti-corruption agencies, prosecuting corrupt public officials, past and present , the ministry should be above board and strictly professional.
As the President is set to present the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday, we hope the annual ritual of padding, paying for allocation, selfishly and criminally budgeting for constituency projects in place of fixing dilapidated infrastructure will not be the order of the day again. There have been too many scandals involving federal legislators; this is the time for a break.
Every Naira must henceforth be judiciously expended. The campaign for sanity in governance ought to be taken seriously by all agencies and institutions of government. We call on Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara to change the public perception of the National Assembly as a den of selfish fat cats by ensuring that the accounts are annually audited and made public.
Meanwhile, we hope that when they have their day in the open court, they will instruct their lawyers to cooperate in making full disclosures as expected by public morality and the Freedom of Information Act.
