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President Bola Tinubu is the target of a lawsuit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for "missing subsidy payments".
The organization is requesting an investigation into claims that N3.1 trillion ($2.1 billion) and $2.1 billion in gasoline subsidy payments that were budgeted are missing.
The lawsuit resulted from the ominous charges that the public monies are missing, which the Auditor-General of the Federation recorded in his 2016 and 2019 annual reports.
In the lawsuit filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos under the case number FHC/L/CS/1107/23, SERAP is requesting an order of mandamus to force Tinubu to take action.
It requests that the President instruct the anti-corruption authorities to look into government subsidy payments made since 1999, identify and bring charges against any suspected offenders, and locate any lost cash.
The lawsuit argued that the recouped funds should be utilized as consolation prizes for the impoverished Nigerians affected by the subsidy reduction.
According to the organization, using public funds improperly is a "fundamental violation of anti-corruption laws and international obligations, including under the UN Convention against Corruption, to which Nigeria is a party."
The SERAP report said that the Tinubu administration "has constitutional and international legal obligations" to investigate these claims and guarantee that those responsible for the grave crimes against the Nigerian people be held accountable."
