How States Spent Paris Club Refund is Confidential, FG Tells Court
By Tobi Soniyi
The
federal government has told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the
record of spending of N388.304 billion London and Paris Club Loan
refunds by 35 states is “protected by professional privilege and
therefore confidential”.
The
federal government has released the Paris and London Club refunds to
the states in two tranches to, among other obligations, pay overdue
pensioners’ entitlements and workers’ salaries
However,
in its response to a suit filed by civil society organisation,
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), seeking an
order of mandamus directing and/or compelling the government to publish
details of spending on the first tranche of N388.304 billion allegedly
diverted and mismanaged by 35 states of the federation, the federal
government through the Accountant General of the Federation Alhaji Ahmed
Idris, said it could not make the disclosure.
A
statement issued by the Deputy Director of SERAP, Mr. Timothy Adewale,
said the federal government’s response was filed last Friday, followed
the ruling in June by Justice Muslim Hassan that the CSO could proceed
with the legal challenge to unravel how 35 states spent the London and
Paris Club loan refunds.
Justice
Hassan had while granting leave, stressed that it was important for the
authorities “to come and tell us how they spent our money”.
But
in its defence the federal government argued: “The relationship between
the accountant general and the 35 states is professional and
confidential.
“It
is a fiduciary one akin to that between a bank and its customer and
allied professionals. On that score, record of the spending of N388.304
billion London and Paris Club Loan refunds by the 35 states is exempted
from publication, assuming the federal government has the information
sought by SERAP.”
The
federal government further averred that the accountant general does not
have custody or possession of the information or records relating to
the spending of N388.304 billion London and Paris Club Loan refunds by
35 states, as the Accountant general did not release the funds to the
states.
The
accountant general also argued that assuming the federal government had
the information sought, it was not obliged to comply with the request.
“States
have exclusive control over their revenue and expenditure and the
Accountant General of the Federation cannot demand obligatorily from any
tier of government, including the 35 states’ information on how they
have spent the Paris Club refunds,” the federal government informed the
court/
The
federal government was however of the view that SERAP had the right to
the information sought, but not to request that the information be
passed to the Attorney General of the Federation.
“In
any case, the accountant general has no record of the spending of
N388.304 billion London and Paris Club Loan refunds by 35 states and
therefore cannot be compelled to release the record, as the court does
not act in vain.
“An order of mandamus should not be issued because it will be unnecessary and not effective and will not serve the purpose.”
But
SERAP’s counsel had argued that due to non-payment of overdue pensions
and salaries of workers by the states, Nigerian citizens have continued
to languish in untold hardship and poverty.
“Therefore,
there is compelling public interest in knowing how exactly the Paris
Club loan refunds were spent by the 35 states. There is also no
professional relationship or privilege between the accountant general
and the 35 states as to warrant any duty of confidentiality on the part
of the accountant general,” the CSO, through is counsel, told the court.
According
to SERAP, “There must be transparency and accountability in the
spending of the refund, in line with the principle of Open Government
Partnership (OGP) to which Nigeria is a signatory.
“In
addition, Section 15(5) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 provides
that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“Citizens
must be able to assess the performance of government, and this depends
on access to records about spending of the refunds by the 35 states.”
SERAP
also argued that assuming without conceding that the accountant general
does not have record of spending of N388.304 billion London and Paris
Club Loan refunds by the 35 states, “nothing stops the accountant
general from working with other agencies/ministries to release
information on the spending, especially being the Chief Accounting
Officer of the Federation and constitutionally charged with the overall
responsibility of keeping and managing all the receipts and payments of
the federal government”.
On
this basis, SERAP held that the accountant general could not therefore
say that he was unaware of the spending of the refunds by the states.
“Otherwise,
this would mean that the accountant general is lacking in his duty as
Chief Accounting Officer of the Federation,” the CSO argued.
The
motion on notice had been set for Wednesday, September 14 2017, for the
hearing of argument on why the federal government should not be
directed and compelled to publish details of projects on which the
London and Paris Club loan refunds were spent.
However,
the federal government had filed a counter-affidavit and brief of
arguments, claiming among others that the matter was confidential.
The
federal government released N388.304 billion of the N522.74 billion to
35 states as refunds of over-deductions on London and Paris Club loans.
The states have since demanded that the balance of the London and Paris Club refunds be released before the year runs out.
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