By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call heads of different government agencies to order over unaccountability and lack of transparency in the utilization of public funds.
The lead director of the Centre, Barrister Eze Onyekpere, revealed yesterday, that it has already filed about 16 different charges bordering on freedom of information, public finance management and due process as well as recovery of mismanaged public funds before different courts.
Speaking in a visual meeting, Onyekpere allegedly put the amount the respective agencies failed to declare or remit to the Federation Account at over N1.5 trillion.
Giving details of the suits, the group decried that while Nigeria suffer under huge foreign loan burden, revenues which ought to be deployed towards financing annual budgets and other key projects are allegedly embezzled by government agencies.
He maintained that the Centre has resolved to make public its litigation docket as a way of exposing the degree of corruption going on in the country.
Moreover, he described as unfortunate, the fact that whenever any of the defaulting government agencies is dragged to court over embezzlement of public funds, some notable lawyers are hired with same public funds for self-defense.
According to him, some of the pending cases in court include that against the Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, over alleged non-remittance of N2,297,199,080.00, representing 25 per cent of the internally generated revenue (IGR) realized in 2015 and 2016; a freedom of information and public finance management suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/369/2020, against the Director General, Centre for Management Development over non-remittance of N59,274,180.66, being 25 per cent of the IGR realized in 2016.
