The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has “ordered the disclosure of the spending details of over N200bn public funds collected by the administration of former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa from the Universal Basic Education Commission [UBEC] fund and allocations from the Federation Accounts.”
The court ordered the Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to “disclose details of budgetary allocations and actual spending by the Okowa government between 2015 and 2019, including specific projects carried out to improve primary education in Delta State, and the locations of such projects.”
The judgment was delivered by Honourable Justice Daniel Osiagor, following a Freedom of Information suit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP according to a statement issued by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare today.
In his judgment, Justice Osiagor held that “SERAP has a legal right to inquire and know the way and manner public institutions manage public funds as every citizen has a duty to demand transparency and accountability in governance of public institutions.
SERAP’s suit followed the case of seven-year-old Success Adegor, who was sent home because her parents could not pay the illegal school levy of N900, and the poor quality of her Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1.
Miss Success had appeared in a viral video in March 2019 after being sent home from school for non payment of fees.
Justice Osiagor ordered the government to “disclose details of the primary schools that have benefited from the projects carried out on access to free and quality primary education in Delta State, and information on indirect costs, including uniforms, exercise books, and transport costs to students and their parents.”
Justice Osiagor also ordered the government to “disclose specific details of the steps Delta State Government is taking to improve the overall welfare of children in primary schools across Delta State, including details of government’s fee-free programme, if any, across primary schools in Delta State.”
Justice Osiagor dismissed all the objections raised by the Delta State government, Universal Basic Education Commission [UBEC] and the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board and upheld SERAP’s arguments.
Subsequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the three respondents.
