CCTV Project: Court Orders Buhari Govt To Account For $460m Chinese Loan

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja last week ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project.

The Court also ordered the government to publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors and specific details of the names of the companies and contractors and status of the implementation of the project.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) disclosed this on Sunday in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER in Lagos.

Justice Emeka Nwite made the orders while delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/1447/2019 brought by SERAP.

It would be recalled that SERAP had in December 2019 filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed over failure to disclose information and specific documents on the total amount of money paid to contractors from the $460 million loan obtained in 2010 from China to fund the Abuja CCTV project.

Ahmed had disclosed that Nigeria was servicing the loan, adding that she had no explanations on the status of the project.

In his judgment, Justice Nwite agreed with SERAP that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government, adding that accounting for the spending of the $460 million Chinese loan is in the interest of the public.

Justice Nwite also said that the Minister of Finance is in charge of the finance of the country and cannot by any stretch of imagination be oblivious of the amount of money paid to the contractors for the Abuja CCTV contract and the money meant for the construction of the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

Justice Nwite also ordered the government to provide the details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5 billion Naira paid for the failed contract meant to construct the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was part of another loan obtained from China.

“SERAP’s core objectives are to promote human rights, transparency and accountability and anticorruption in Nigeria.”

“I am of the humble view that there is a reasonable cause of action against the government [through the Minister of Finance] and I so hold that SERAP has made out a case to be entitled to the reliefs sought.”

“The law is well settled that where a document or letter is sent by post, it is the law that same is taken or presumed to have been delivered.”

“Following this principle of law and relying on exhibit OS2, SERAP’s Freedom of Information request sent to Ms Ahmed is deemed to have delivered. Therefore, the averment by the government [through her] that they were not served with the letter is hereby discountenance. I so hold,” Justice Nwite’s judgment read partly.

Joined as defendants in the suit are Ms Ahmed and the Minister of Police Affairs.

Reacting to the court judgement, the statement quoted SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare as saying: “The onus is now on President Buhari to immediately comply with the court’s orders. We commend Justice Nwite for his courage and wisdom, and urge President Buhari and Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to immediately obey the court orders.”

“This is a victory for justice, rule of law, transparency and accountability. The judgment shows the way forward in the fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators. We will do everything within the law to ensure full compliance by President Buhari with this ground-breaking judgment on Chinese loans.”

“We call on President Buhari to use the judgment as the basis for publishing details of spending of all Chinese loans and other loans obtained by his government since May 2015.”

Nigeria’s total borrowing from China climbed from $1.39 billion to $4.29 billion between June 2015 and December 2022, according to data from Debt Management Office (DMO).

Nigeria’s 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) revealed earlier in this year that the Federal Government will spend N6.31 trillion on debt servicing in 2023, which amounts to about 74.6% of the government’s projected revenue of 8.46 trillion for the year.

There are reports that Nigeria risks losing key national assets to China in the event that it defaults in paying back loans obtained from China.

There are also reports that the country may have defaulted on Chinese loan repayment and stands the risk of paying a penalty amounting to N41.31 billion.