SERAP Drags Buhari To Court Over Unpublished Agreement’ Of $23m Fresh Abacha Loot

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over the failure to publish copy and details of the agreement the Federal Government recently signed with the United States for the repatriation of N9.69bn ($23 million) stolen by the late Sani Abacha.

On August 23, 2022, the federal government signed an agreement with the US government to repatriate a new batch of funds looted by Sani Abacha, the former Nigerian head of state.

Malami had said the recovered loot, which is tagged ‘Abacha-5’, has been earmarked for the completion of the Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1700/2022 filed on Friday before a federal high court in Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to direct and compel President Buhari and Abubakar Malami to release and widely publish a copy of the agreement on the Abacha loot with the U.S.

The organisation argued that, “the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international obligations impose transparency obligations on the Federal Government to widely publish the agreement on the $23 million Abacha loot”.