In a significant victory for transparency and accountability in Nigeria, the Federal High Court in Abuja has delivered a landmark ruling compelling President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action on long-buried allegations of massive corruption within the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). On November 10, 2025, Honourable Justice Gladys Olotu ordered the President to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to publicly release the names of individuals and entities indicted in the forensic audit of the NDDC, which uncovered the alleged misappropriation of over N6 trillion in public funds between 2000 and 2019. The court also mandated the immediate publication of the full forensic audit report submitted to the federal government on September 2, 2021.
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The judgment stemmed from a Freedom of Information (FOI) suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1360/2021, filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in November 2021. SERAP had sought judicial intervention after repeated demands to the presidency and the Attorney General for the disclosure of the audit report and the identities of those implicated in the disappearance of funds meant for 13,777 development projects across the Niger Delta region went unheeded. A certified true copy of the 45-page judgment was made available to the public on Friday, November 21, 2025.
Justice Olotu’s ruling was unambiguous in its legal reasoning. She held that both the forensic audit report and the names of indicted persons unequivocally qualify as “public records” under Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011. The judge categorically rejected any suggestion that the documents could be shielded under the Act’s exemption clauses (Sections 11–19), emphasizing that information concerning the management and expenditure of public funds cannot be withheld from citizens. “The refusal of the President and the Attorney General to publish the audit report or act on the allegations therein, despite formal demand by SERAP, constitutes a breach of their statutory duties,” the court declared, citing violations of the FOI Act, Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations.
The judgment invoked the principle of mandamus, a rare but powerful judicial remedy that compels public officials to perform non-discretionary duties. Justice Olotu outlined that SERAP had satisfied all four conditions required for such an order: a clear legal right, a corresponding public duty on the President and Attorney General, prior demand for performance, and persistent refusal or neglect to act. “The Freedom of Information Act imposes on the President a clear, non-discretionary duty to make the NDDC forensic audit report available to the public and publish the names of those indicted,” she stated.
Civil society and legal luminaries have hailed the decision as a watershed moment in Nigeria’s struggle against entrenched corruption. SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, described the ruling as “ground-breaking,” stressing that it underscores the urgent need for the Tinubu administration to demonstrate genuine political will in addressing the systemic looting of resources meant for the impoverished Niger Delta communities. “Justice Olotu’s courage and wisdom have reaffirmed that no amount of money belonging to the Nigerian people should disappear without trace or consequence,” Oluwadare said.
Renowned human-rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, went further, calling the litigation “one of the most patriotic public-interest cases ever undertaken in Nigeria.” He commended SERAP for its persistence and urged President Tinubu to waste no time in complying with the court’s orders. “The era of secrecy over the N6 trillion oil money is over,” Falana declared. “Those suspected of responsibility must be prosecuted, and every kobo recovered. Any delay in enforcing this judgment will only embolden corruption and erode public faith in the rule of law.”
On November 22, 2025, SERAP wrote directly to President Tinubu, urging immediate compliance. In the strongly worded letter signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization reminded the President that obeying the court represents a critical opportunity to “make a clean break with the past” and to rebuild public trust through transparent governance. The letter emphasized that compliance is not merely a legal obligation but “an essential stepping stone to constructing a basic institutional framework for legality and constitutionality” in Nigeria.
The NDDC forensic audit, ordered in 2019 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, was intended to investigate decades of financial mismanagement in the commission established to fast-track development in the oil-rich but deeply deprived Niger Delta. When the report was finally submitted in 2021, its findings reportedly exposed staggering levels of fraud, including payments for thousands of non-existent or abandoned projects. Despite public outcry and promises of action, successive administrations kept both the report and the list of indicted persons under lock and key, fueling widespread suspicion of a cover-up to protect powerful political and business interests.
SERAP’s original suit had highlighted the human cost of the missing trillions: over 13,000 abandoned projects have left millions of Niger Delta residents without basic infrastructure, clean water, electricity, schools, and healthcare facilities. The organization argued that continued secrecy not only violates citizens’ right to know but directly undermines their fundamental human rights.
With Justice Olotu’s ruling, the judiciary has sent an unmistakable message that impunity over public funds will no longer be tolerated. All eyes are now on President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, to see whether the administration will swiftly obey the court or risk accusations of contempt and further damage to its anti-corruption credentials. As Nigeria battles economic hardship and dwindling public trust, compliance with this judgment could mark a turning point—or its defiance, another tragic chapter in the country’s long history of unaccounted billions.
