The Federal Government has been ordered to probe the administrations of past Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan over their failure to disclose details about funds recovered from corrupt individuals in the country.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos gave the landmark judgment following a Freedom of Information suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Vanguard reports.
The court also ruled that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari must declare the total amount it has recovered so far, just like the affected past administrations.
The court held that the past administrations since 1999 “breached the fundamental principles of transparency and accountability for failing to disclose details about the spending of recovered stolen public funds, including on a dedicated website.”
Presided over by Justice M.B Idris, the court ruled on Friday that the following must be provided: information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets by each government; the amount of recovered stolen public assets spent by each government as well as the objects of such spending and the projects on which such funds were spent.