Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued President Bola Tinubu for “missing subsidy payments”.
The organization requests an investigation into allegations that $2.1 billion and N3.1 trillion budgeted for petroleum subsidy payments are missing.
The lawsuit was filed after the Auditor-General of the Federation alleged in its 2016 and 2019 annual reports that public funds were missing.
SERAP filed suit number FHC/L/CS/1107/23 with the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday, seeking a mandamus order compelling Tinubu to act.
It requests that the President direct anti-corruption agencies to investigate subsidy payments made by administrations since 1999, identify and prosecute suspects, and recover missing funds.
The recovered funds must be used to mitigate the impact of the removal of the subsidy on impoverished Nigerians, the lawsuit demanded.
Misuse of public funds, according to the group, constitutes a “fundamental violation of anti-corruption laws and international obligations, including Nigeria’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”
SERAP added, “The Tinubu administration has constitutional and international legal obligations to investigate these allegations and ensure accountability for these grave crimes against the Nigerian people.”