SERAP Should Get Serious, Ningi Not Whistleblower

I’m not convinced that the people at the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) watched the drama that took place on the floor of the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, when the red chamber debated a motion for the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi for lying against the senate. If they did, they wouldn’t have rushed to the social media to announce they were suing the senate for “unlawful suspension of a whistleblower.”

The outspoken Bauchi Senator had told the BBC Hausa Service that the Senate under Godswill Akpabio inserted projects worth N3 trillion in the 2024 budget. Ningi who spoke under the banner of the Northern Senators’ Forum, claimed that the National Assembly passed N25 trillion as the 2024 budget and not the N28.7 trillion that was being implemented by the federal government.

But last Tuesday when his colleagues asked him to defend his allegations, he said he was misquoted. Senator Olamileken Adeola, chairman of the senate committee on appropriation who brought the motion to the floor of the senate, first gave a break down of the 2024 budget to confirm that the budget passed by NASS and signed by President Tinubu was N28.7 trillion and not N25 trillion as alleged by Ningi.

He also explained that the N3 trillion Ningi alleged was not in the break down of the budget in operation was money allocated to agencies that are on first line charge, and he mentioned all of them. He said it was parliamentary practice that the details for the agencies are not included in the budget break down—a tradition not unknown to Ningi, a ranking senator.

Ningi was then called to defend himself or apologise, and he couldn’t do either. I was expecting Ningi to rubbish Sen Adeola’s submissions on the budget and call him a liar. Instead, he became jittery and said he was misquoted, before getting personal and bringing up unrelated issues of his constituency not getting enough allocation as some of those in the southern part of the country.

The senators subsequently suspended him for 3 months for lying against the senate and bringing it into disrepute. I didn’t have any pity for a senator who lied against his country and an institution he’s part of for personal gains. That is destructive politics. As much as I cannot vouch for the senate or its president, Godswill Akpabio (because they’re politicians), I take exception to people dragging down institutions or country due to personal grudges as Ningi had done.

That was why I was shocked to see a breaking news immediately after the suspension, that SERAP was going to sue the senate for suspending a whistle blower! Obviously, the SERAP posted a message on X, formally Twitter, saying: “BREAKING: We’re suing the Senate over the unlawful suspension of whistleblower and Senator Abdul Ningi for 3 months over his allegation that the Senate inserted projects worth N3 trillion in the 2024 budget, contrary to the Nigerian Constitution and international standards.”

I asked myself whether SERAP understands who a whistleblower is, and what Nigeria’s whistleblower policy of 2016 stipulates. A whistleblower is supposed to report fraud or bribery through internal channels, and in some cases external channels such as the media and the anti-corruption agencies. But for a whistleblower to be credible, he or she must have compelling evidence to support their claims so it can be investigated.

But what we heard during the senate’s trial of Ningi was that he went to the Senate president to tell him what his so-called expert found in the 2024 budget so he could provide clarifications. The senate president then asked him to bring the evidence of what he was alleging so that they could examine it and see if there’s any issue. But instead of going to Akpabio with his evidence, he went to BBC Hausa service to say things he had not conclusively verified about Nigeria’s budget.

It was evident to me that Ningi had other intentions different from whistle blowing. He saw an opportunity to launch his attack and chose a suitable medium to do so. It was a personal attack against Akpabio’s leadership, supported by forces outside the senate. That was why many senators from the north dissociated themselves from Ningi. Those who spoke during the senate plenary said they didn’t know anything about what Ningi alleged and he never showed them any evidence. Ningi himself admitted this while addressing his colleagues.

SERAP must review its modus operandi if it wants to be taken seriously and stop playing to the gallery. It should know the battles to fight and when to be calm, otherwise it will soon become a public nuisance. A look at some of the reactions to its post show that the public may have started to see SERAP as a scam.

@GracedUp1, wrote, “You guys keep suing but no report of court appearances or winnings! What is going on?” @dunua wrote, “Before I applaud you, you’ve got to show me one legal suit you concluded and won against the federal government since your inception. Stop this play, it’s getting boring.” @onyx2020 also wrote, “Can u guys stop this your suing nonsense because none had seen the light of the day. I therefore question @SERAP integrity.”

As a newspaper editor who has followed SERAP, and who believes in a strong civil society as check on government’s recklessness, I have struggled to see the impact of an organisation such as SERAP. I once asked our judicial reporter in Abuja to speak to the leaders of SERAP on what it’s been able to achieve through the courts. He never came back with anything.

When i was doing a special report on presidential candidates before the last general election, a fellow journalist informed me that SERAP had sued one of the frontline candidates in the past and that if I spoke to them, I could get some interesting materials.

I immediately contacted Adetokunbo Mumuni about it and he said i would have to visit their office in Lagos. I think he even gave me the contact of one Dare Kola. I visited SERAP’s office in Lagos twice within two days and didn’t find the guy. He said he was busy and would see how he could get the materials to me later through emails. I never received any email from them till date! I was so disappointed that a civil society organisation could treat a journalist seeking to publish their anti-corruption effort that way.

It was a let down which was not mitigated by what i had seen and read about SERAP. The only time i see them in the news is when they’re suing! Please SERAP can do better.

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.