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133m Poor Nigerians: Buhari Dragged To Court Over Failure To Probe Spending On ‘Social Intervention Programmes’

Published

3 years ago

December 25, 2022

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over “the failure to thoroughly, effectively and transparently investigate spending on all social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects executed between 2015 and 2022.”

Joined in the suit as Respondent is the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows damning revelations that some 133 million Nigerians are poor, despite the government reportedly spending N500 billion yearly on ‘social investment programmes.’ Half of all poor people in the country are children.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2357/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari to thoroughly and transparently investigate the spending on all social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022.”

SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari to ensure that suspected perpetrators of corruption and mismanagement of public funds meant to take care of the poor face prosecution, as appropriate, and any stolen public funds are recovered.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “Nigerians have the right to be free from poverty. Allegations of corruption in social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes pose both direct and indirect threats to human rights, and contribute to extreme poverty in the country.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “Investigating the allegations of corruption in the spending on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects and recovering any stolen public funds would serve the public interest.”

According to SERAP, “The Federal Government has a legal responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how public funds are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “The government has legal obligations to effectively and progressively address and combat extreme poverty as a matter of human rights.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Blessing Ogwuche, read in part: “The failure to address extreme poverty has resulted in high levels of inequality, and serious violations of economic and social rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.”

“The NBS report suggests a grave violation of the public trust, and the lack of political will by the government to uphold the country’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.”

“The consequences of corruption are felt by citizens on a daily basis. Corruption exposes them to additional costs to pay for health, education and administrative services.”

“Corruption undermines economic development of the country, trapping the majority of Nigerians in poverty and depriving them of employment opportunities.”

“Extreme poverty is the greatest denial of the exercise of human rights, as it denies millions of Nigerians not only their economic and social rights but also civil and political rights such as the rights to life, human dignity, and political participation.”

“The failure to address extreme poverty has resulted in high levels of inequality, and serious violations of economic and social rights of Nigerians, particularly the socially and economically vulnerable sector of the population.”

“The report that 133 million Nigerians are poor suggests corruption and mismanagement in the spending of trillion of naira on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes, including the reported disbursement of over $700 million from the repatriated Abacha looted funds to these programmes.”

“The report also shows that the purported social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes are clearly not working. It also shows a failure by the government to uphold the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights of the Nigerian people.”

“The government has a sacred duty to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the country’s resources, including the spending of public funds on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects.”

“Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended] provides that, ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’”

“Under Section 16(1)(a)(b), the government has the obligations to ‘harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy’, and to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen.’”

“Nigeria has also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognize legally enforceable economic and social rights, such as the rights to education, health, safe food and clean water, security, and shelter.”

“Successive governments have systematically neglected social and economic rights, and failed to address severe poverty and inequality in the country.”

“The allegations corruption and mismanagement in the spending of public funds on social safety-nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects would clearly amount to a fundamental breach of national anticorruption laws and the country’s international anticorruption obligations.”

“The 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey reveals that 65% of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35% (nearly 47 million) live in the South. Poverty levels across States vary significantly, with the incidence of multidimensional poverty ranging from a low of 27% in Ondo to a high of 91% in Sokoto.”

“The NBS also shows that over half of the population of Nigeria are multidimensionally poor and cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy. High deprivations are also apparent nationally in sanitation, time to healthcare, food insecurity, and housing.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

VANGUARD

Headline

Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

5 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

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UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

5 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP

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Prosecutors Seek Jail For Italian Influencer Ferragni In Fraud Case

Published

5 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

Italian prosecutors asked a court on Tuesday to sentence fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni to one year and eight months in prison if found guilty of alleged fraud over charity endorsement deals.

The Instagram star and businesswoman has been on trial since September for aggravated fraud over promotions of a pandoro cake — a Christmas treat similar to a panettone — and Easter eggs, which purported to raise money for charity or social causes.

The 38-year-old, who is based in Milan, told the court during the closed-door hearing on Tuesday that she denied the charges and had always acted “in good faith”, her lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone said.

Leaving the audience, Ferragni told a throng of journalists that she felt “confident… I can’t say anymore”.

A verdict is expected in January.

Aggravated fraud carries a jail term of between one and five years.

But Ferragni has chosen a fast-track trial, which gives defendants a sentence reduction — meaning she cannot receive more than a maximum penalty of two years and three months, according to a source close to her team.

In Italy, people sentenced to prison for less than two years rarely serve jail time.

Ferragni started out with a fashion blog, The Blonde Salad, in 2009, and in 2017, Forbes magazine named her its top fashion influencer.

Chronicling her glamorous lifestyle and being paid to promote high-end brands, she built the blog into a lucrative business, then used it as a springboard to launch her own eponymous label with stores around the world.

Her trailblazing story even became a Harvard Business School example of how social media fame can be monetised.

But the fraud accusations have hit her reputation and her endorsements.

Outside court for a hearing earlier this month, Ferragni acknowledged to journalists that it was a “difficult phase of my life”.

The allegations relate in part to Ferragni’s 2022 endorsement of a pandoro cake purportedly to raise funds for children undergoing treatment at a Turin hospital.

In December 2023, Italy’s communications watchdog (AGCOM) fined two of Ferragni’s companies one million euros ($1.2 million) for unfair commercial practices for the “Pandoro Pink Christmas” promotion — around the same sum they had made in the deal.

Shoppers were led to believe that buying the special edition cake made by Balocco would benefit the hospital, but it only received a single 50,000-euro donation from the company.

Balocco was fined 420,000 euros at the same time.

AGCOM also investigated Ferragni-branded Easter eggs from 2021 and 2022, linked to a social enterprise initiative.

Ferragni and her husband, rapper and music producer Fedez, who were one of Italy’s most famous celebrity couples, split in 2024.

AFP