Court orders PDP to refund N3.5m to senatorial aspirant

A Gombe State High Court has ordered the PDP to pay back N3.5
million to a senatorial aspirant, Barr. Zubairu Umar, the money he
paid for the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination
forms.

Barr. Umar had dragged the PDP before the court challenging his
“illegal disqualification” when he aspired for the Gombe North in
the PDP senatorial primary election.

The aspirant, through his counsel, Barr. Ibrahim Attahir, prayed
the court to cancel the primary and ordered it to conduct a fresh
one that would enable his client to participate.

Barr. Attahir told the court that his client was not given a
fair hearing prior to his disqualification by the screening
committee.

However, counsel to the PDP, Barr. Habu Abdu, informed the court
that the aspirant was disqualified by the party because he (Umar)
had withdrawn from partisan politics and had not been contributing
financially to the party.

In his verdict, Justice Abdulhamid Muhammed Yakubu said the
plaintiff was not given a fair hearing by the PDP screening
committee as the issue of not being a contributing financial member
to the party was not brought up when he appeared before them.

On the prayer for the cancellation of the election, Justice
Yakubu said since the deadline for the conduct of party primaries
was over, ordered the PDP to pay the aspirant the N3.5m he spent
for the party’s Nomination and Expression of Interest forms.

However, PDP’s counsel, Barr. Abdu, said the party would study
the ruling and decide its next action.

Meanwhile, Umar’s counsel Barr. Attahir, said they were
satisfied with the judgement, adding that since the court had
answered their major prayers, his client would not appeal the
ruling.

Related

Metele Attack: Group Seeks Probe of Military
Spending
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent
an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to use
his “good offices and leadership position to urgently set up a
commission of inquiry to investigate the spending of defence and
military budgets between 1999 and 2018 in order to promote
transparency and accountability in the sector.”

SERAP said the probe would: “ensure that the funds meant for
military operation are spent for that purpose and end the
vulnerability and killings of Nigerian soldiers such as the
reported death of several Nigerian soldiers in the recent Metele
Boko Haram attack.”

The organization also urged President Buhari to: “immediately
refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) pursuant to article
13 of the Rome Statute, all allegations of corruption in the
spending of funds meant to purchase arms to empower Nigerian
soldiers to fight Boko Haram, including the apparent diversion and
sharing of the over $2 billion under the former government of
President Goodluck Jonathan and approved spending by your own
government.”

In the letter dated 23 November 2018 and signed by SERAP senior
legal adviser Bamisope Adeyanju, the organization said: “We believe
that referral of the cases to the ICC would serve as a deterrent
and ensure that Nigerians, particularly those in the Northeast of
the country whose human rights including to life, to human dignity,
and to an adequate standard of living have been violated are not
denied justice and effective remedies.”

The organization expressed “concern that several billions of
naira allocated to the military to defend the country have neither
contributed to improving the ability of Nigerian soldiers to fight
Boko Haram and other armed groups nor provided the much-needed
security especially for Nigerians in the North-east of the
country.”

The organization urged Buhari to: “move swiftly to implement
these recommendations as a way of demonstrating your government’s
commitment to end the perception of lack of transparency and
accountability in the spending of military budgets in the context
of the conflict in the Northeast and to ensure the safety and
security of our solders and all Nigerians in that part of the
country.”

The letter read in part: “The military’s inability to respond
adequately to the Boko Haram insurgency suggests among other things
a mismanagement in the spending of the country’s defence budgets.
Establishing a commission of inquiry to investigate how defence and
military budgets have been spent since 29 May 1999 would help
Nigerians to know if the funds meant to defend the country and for
purchase of arms to empower Nigerian soldiers to fight Boko Haram
have been transparently and accountably spent.”

“The proposed commission should be led by a retired justice of
the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The activities
of the commission must be open to the public and all those who have
been responsible for the spending of the country’s defence and
military budgets should be summoned to give a public account of how
the money was spent.”

“Testimonies should be taken in a way that ensures that specific
military operations are not disclosed and national security not
compromised. The commission should make recommendations including
on the prosecution of those found to have mismanaged and/or stolen
public funds meant to fight Boko Haram.”

“SERAP is concerned that many cases of those alleged to have
diverted and shared funds meant to purchase arms to empower
Nigerian soldiers to fight Boko Haram have stalled. Given the
continuing delay in the prosecution of such cases, and the need to
send a strong message that corruption in the spending of funds
meant to fight Boko Haram insurgents will not be tolerated, we urge
you to immediately refer all such cases for investigation and
prosecution by the ICC.”

“SERAP notes that article 13(a) of the Rome Statute of the ICC
provides a basic right to states parties including Nigeria to refer
to the ICC prosecutor cases such as those involving mismanagement
and/or stealing of funds meant to purchase arms to empower Nigerian
soldiers to fight Boko Haram.”

“Opacity and deficiencies in the way arms purchases are decided
and controlled if not urgently addressed would continue to expose
our soldiers to risk of attacks and killings; displace people and
destroy their means of livelihoods and render them homeless,
thereby undermining human rights, including the right to life,
right to personal security, right to education and right to
livelihood.”

“Nigeria is a state party to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and a range of international human rights treaties
and therefore has a duty to respect and protect human rights
including a duty to protect people against human rights abuses by
third parties.”

“SERAP notes that in 2014 about N340billion (US$1.7billion) was
allocated to the military. Also, a number of offices had budgets
allocated to them in relation to the Boko Haram conflict. The
military received the largest funds in the federal budget in 2014.
In October 2014, the National Assembly approved a request to borrow
US$1billion as an additional amount for purchase of military
equipment. In 2015, about N375billion (US$1.8billion) was allocated
to the military in the federal budget.”

“The same year, an interim report of the presidential
investigations committee on arms procurement under the former
president Goodluck Jonathan administration revealed an
extra-budgetary spending to the tune of N643.8 billion and an
additional spending of about $2.1 billion under the Goodluck
Jonathan administration.”

“SERAP also notes that Nigeria is a key member of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has
‘accountability, economic and social justice’ as part of the
fundamental principles contained in its Revised Treaty. Nigeria is
a member of the Commonwealth, which has as its core principles
‘transparency, accountability, legitimacy, and
responsiveness.’”

“Article 1(c) of the UN Convention against Corruption which
Nigeria has ratified states the purpose of the treaty as including:
‘to promote integrity, accountability and proper management of
public affairs and public property.’”

“According to reports, at least 118 soldiers and officers were
killed when the terrorist Boko Haram sect attacked Nigeria’s 157
Task Force Battalion in Metele village of Borno State on November
18. 153 soldiers reportedly remained missing in action. Nigerian
troops fighting on the frontline of the Boko Haram conflict have
also reportedly deplored the poor state of their equipment,
including outdated vehicles.”

“More than 27,000 people are reported to have been killed in the
many years of Islamist insurgency in the North-east of the country
that has triggered a humanitarian crisis and left 1.8 million
people without homes.”

Ms Bamisope Adeyanju
SERAP Senior Legal Adviser