Daniel Otera
More than four years after former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit into the finances of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), tensions are rising over the federal government’s refusal to make the audit findings public. The undisclosed report, which allegedly uncovers the disappearance of over ₦6 trillion between 2001 and 2019, is now at the centre of a lawsuit filed before the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja.
The legal action, spearheaded by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) alongside four Nigerian citizens, demands full public disclosure of the audit report. Filed last Friday and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, the case accuses the Nigerian government of breaching its international human rights obligations by suppressing the document.
“There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report,” the plaintiffs stated. “The Nigerian government’s continuing failure to publish the report denies the public the ability to truly study the report and hold those responsible to account.”
In 2019, following widespread allegations of grand corruption, President Buhari ordered a forensic audit into the operations of the Commission. The review covered 18 years of financial transactions from 2001 to 2019. Although the federal government confirmed receipt of the report in 2021, it has remained unpublished, raising questions about political will and institutional transparency.
According to SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the audit implicates senior government officials and politicians in large-scale looting of public resources.
“The Nigerian government has violated our right to know the truth about the corruption allegations documented in the NDDC forensic report,” SERAP said. “The obstruction of the report’s publication is perpetrating impunity and shielding those responsible.”
Adding further controversy, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently claimed that the wife of a former minister received ₦48 billion over one year, allegedly for “training Niger Delta women”. The revelation has sparked renewed demands for accountability and intensified scrutiny on the unreleased audit findings.
Public records from the Budget Office of the Federation, as referenced by The Nation, indicate that the NDDC received at least ₦946.91 billion between 2004 and 2019. Despite these enormous sums, many communities across the nine oil-producing states continue to suffer from a lack of basic amenities, clean water, accessible roads, and functional healthcare.
The forensic audit reportedly confirmed that more than 13,000 projects were either abandoned or poorly executed. This figure was acknowledged by the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, who described the findings as “disturbing and deeply disappointing.”
Reports by Channels Television and BusinessDay highlighted that many of the abandoned projects were plagued by cost inflation, duplication, or were awarded without proper procurement documentation.
The plaintiffs Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe are relying on international human rights frameworks to support their case.
Citing Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the suit argues that the Nigerian government is bound to respect the right to information.
“Access to information is a basic tool for building citizenship,” the plaintiffs said. “The right to participate in public interest matters such as accountability and justice for victims of corruption is protected under international law.”
The suit maintains that transparency must be the default, while secrecy should remain the exception.
“Access to information should be the rule, while secrecy must remain the exception,” the plaintiffs added. “The Nigerian government has the burden of proof to justify any restrictions in line with international human rights standards.”
Independent watchdogs have consistently flagged systemic governance failures in the NDDC. A 2023 report by Dataphyte, a civic data accountability organisation, revealed that contracts worth ₦284.88 billion were awarded with no certified work completed, while ₦63.55 billion in advance payments were issued without any corresponding payment certificates.
The same report identified ₦7.4 billion allocated to small-scale community projects with no traceable location or monitoring framework.
“The mismanagement of public resources by the NDDC directly threatens the welfare of over 47 million Nigerians living in the Niger Delta,” Dataphyte stated.
A separate investigation by a coalition of Dataphyte, BudgIT, and SERAP uncovered that between 2008 and 2018, the Commission could not account for ₦15.3 billion disbursed for 115 projects. An additional ₦90.9 billion linked to 176 contracts was flagged for lacking official documentation.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) also raised alarm in its performance audit, citing duplicated contracts worth ₦1.19 billion and questionable expenditures exceeding ₦7.4 billion across 22 contracts. NEITI recommended urgent procurement reforms and a corruption risk assessment of the agency.
Observers warn that the government’s prolonged silence on the NDDC audit could seriously undermine President Bola Tinubu’s credibility on anti-corruption and good governance.
Despite promising transparency and fiscal discipline during his campaign, critics argue that the administration has made little progress in holding corrupt actors to account.
“The continued failure to publish the audit report undermines public trust and confidence,” SERAP stated. “This document can no longer be left to gather dust.”
Legal analysts say the suit, if successful, could set a landmark precedent for the right to public information and civic oversight across West Africa. Although no hearing date has been announced, pressure is building for the Tinubu-led government to take a clear stance on transparency.