The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and anti-corruption agencies to investigate the spending of a $1.5 billion World Bank loan allocated to Nigeria\u2019s 36 states and Abuja for poverty reduction and social protection programs. SERAP is also urging a probe into the management of $3.121 billion in loans obtained by the Federal Government from China.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In an open letter dated August 10, 2024, and signed by SERAP\u2019s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization stated, “Suspected perpetrators of corruption and mismanagement should face prosecution as appropriate, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, and any proceeds of corruption should be fully recovered.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SERAP emphasized the need for accountability, stating, “Impunity for corruption in the management of World Bank loans and Chinese loans will continue as long as high-ranking public officials go largely unpunished for their alleged crimes.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organization urged Tinubu to instruct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to track and monitor the spending of the World Bank loan, ensuring transparency in its usage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“There are reports that the $1.5bn World Bank loan to the 36 states and Abuja and the $3bn Chinese loans obtained by the Federal Government may have been mismanaged or diverted, and in any case remain unaccounted for,” SERAP stated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SERAP also noted, “While a governor may enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution, he does not enjoy immunity from investigation. Any criminal allegation against a sitting governor can and should be investigated pending the time the governor leaves office and loses immunity.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The group argued that these investigations are consistent with the Nigerian Constitution and the country\u2019s international anti-corruption obligations. “Ensuring accountability for the spending of World Bank loan and Chinese loans would build trust in democratic institutions with the ultimate aim of strengthening the rule of law,” SERAP stated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organization further warned that if the requested actions are not taken within seven days, it would consider legal actions to compel the government to comply in the public interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and anti-corruption agencies to investigate the spending of a $1.5 billion World Bank loan allocated to Nigeria\u2019s 36 states and Abuja for poverty reduction and social protection programs. SERAP is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":42575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42812,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42811\/revisions\/42812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}