The group says it is in the public interest to stop the government from borrowing, saying persistent borrowing is not fair to the Nigerian people.
Human rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from spending N26bn earmarked for the presidency in the 2022 budget.
The budget is expected to take care of the president’s “local and foreign travels, meals and refreshments, sitting allowance, welfare package, and office building.”
The suit with number, FHC/ABJ/CS/1361/2021, filed on Friday, November 5, 2021, on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Adelanke Aremo seeks “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to cut the N26bn presidency budget on local and foreign travels, meals and refreshments, and to send a supplementary appropriation bill to the National Assembly to reflect the reduction.”
SERAP also seeks “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to publish spending details on the State House Medical Center since May 29, 2015, to date; and to redirect some of the money on travels and meals to improve public healthcare facilities across the country.”
The group argued that it is in the public interest to stop the government from borrowing, saying persistent borrowing is neither sustainable nor fair to the Nigerian people.
SERAP also argued that “The huge spending by the presidency is neither necessary nor in the public interest, especially in the face of the country’s dire economic position, the scant allocations to education and health, and the growing level of borrowing by the Federal Government to fund the 2022 budget.
“The Buhari administration has constitutional and fiduciary duties to ensure a responsible budget spending and the well-being and prosperity of Nigerians. Some of the proposed spendings could be better allocated to improve access of poor Nigerians to basic public goods and services.”
Describing the president’s spending as unsustainable, SERAP said stopping Buhari from spending the proposed N26bn on travels and meals would ensure that the government is spending the country’s maximum available resources to respect, protect, and promote the rights to basic needs of the poor and marginalized groups.
