Pressure is mounting on the Federal Government as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and four concerned Nigerians have dragged President Bola Tinubu’s administration before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over its refusal to release the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The suit, filed last Friday and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, seeks to compel the Nigerian government to make the report public, citing violations of transparency and the citizens’ right to access information. The plaintiffs include Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, in a statement on Sunday, disclosed that the audit—commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019—allegedly exposed the mismanagement and disappearance of N6 trillion from the NDDC between 2001 and 2019, implicating top political figures and government officials.
The plaintiffs argue that by withholding the report, the Nigerian government is breaching its obligations under international human rights law, including the right to freedom of expression and access to information.
“The government has not provided any legal justification for its refusal to release the report,” the plaintiffs said. “Its continued secrecy promotes impunity, suppresses the truth, and erodes public trust.”
The case also references recent claims by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, who alleged that the wife of a former minister received N48 billion over 12 months to purportedly train women in the Niger Delta—an example of the kind of questionable transactions that prompted the audit.
Through the court, the plaintiffs are seeking an order directing the government to publish the audit findings and take concrete steps to close longstanding transparency and accountability gaps in the operations of the NDDC.
“The public has a right to know the truth about how trillions of naira allocated to the Niger Delta were spent—or misappropriated,” said Oluwadare. “Without access to this report, democratic accountability remains out of reach.”
The lawsuit, filed by lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo, underscores growing public demand for transparency in how federal allocations to the Niger Delta have been used—or squandered.
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