SERAP Sues Nigerian Government At ECOWAS Court Over Hidden NDDC Audit

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken the Federal Government to the ECOWAS Court over its refusal to publish the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which allegedly details the disappearance of N6 trillion between 2001 and 2019.

The suit, filed in Abuja and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, was jointly filed by SERAP and four other Nigerians — Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.

SERAP says the federal government’s refusal to release the audit findings violates international human rights agreements Nigeria has ratified, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The Nigerian government has violated our right to know the truth about the corruption allegations documented in the NDDC forensic report,” the plaintiffs said. “Obstructing its publication is aiding impunity and protecting powerful individuals from accountability.”

The audit was ordered in 2019 by former President Muhammadu Buhari after serious allegations of corruption at the NDDC. But despite its completion, the report has remained under wraps.

In the suit, the applicants are asking the ECOWAS Court to compel the government to make the report public and to introduce reforms to ensure transparency in how NDDC funds are managed.

Kolawole Oluwadare, lawyer for the applicants, argued that the report is not classified and that keeping it hidden violates citizens’ right to information. He said the public has a legitimate right to access it to demand accountability from those who may have mismanaged public funds.

The plaintiffs further cited international legal provisions supporting their case. They argued that access to public information is a human right and that withholding such a vital report undermines democratic governance and prevents victims of corruption from seeking justice.

They invoked the principle of “maximum disclosure,” which says transparency should be the norm and secrecy the exception. Any effort to withhold public information must be backed by law and must meet clear international standards — which, according to the plaintiffs, the Nigerian government has failed to meet.

So far, no hearing date has been scheduled for the case.