The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has urged Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala to embrace constructive engagement on issues of human rights, transparency and accountability, and to avoid sound bite and opportunistic attacks on civil society organizations.
Executive Director of the Project Adetokunbo Mumuni said this in a statement reacting to the Minister's allegation that SERAP's court case against her was sponsored by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, had said that Nigeria lost as much as N30 trillion to corruption and mismanagement which led to the SERAP's suit after the minister declined a FOI request.
"We are disappointed that Mrs Okonjo- Iweala's response offers little in terms of dealing with the real issue and why the Minister failed to respond to a valid freedom of information request made under the law signed by this government. While we do not intend to go into the substance of the case now in court, we are compelled to respond to the misleading and entirely unfounded allegation that SERAP is a tool in the hand of the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, APC.
"It (SERAP) strives to ensure that its human rights and accountability work meet the highest standards of analytical rigour devoid of politics. While we very much welcome any constructive criticism aimed at reinforcing our ability to meet these standards, we totally reject the accusation by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala that we are a tool for the APC. SERAP is completely independent of any political party, ideology, or economic interest. Our work is driven solely by the fundamental principles of justice, impartiality, solidarity and universality of human rights," Mumuni said.
While saying that his organisation has court cases against the Lagos State Government, including a FOI suit on the spending of the World Bank loan of $90 million meant to improve education in the 639 public secondary schools, and on the increased tuition fees for the students of Lagos State University (LASU), he added that they have also obtained a judgment by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in a suit they brought against the Rivers State Government over demolition of some houses in the state.
He added that the examples make it untenable to attribute SERAP's work to political bias and that the Minister's allegations fly in the face of commendations for the organisation from government agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), international NGOs like Amnesty International and Transparency International among others who have also recognized SERAP's non-partisan work in the field of human rights, transparency and accountability.
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