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My Lawsuit Against Babatunde Fashola -By Sesugh Akume

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Today, my lawyers instituted legal proceedings, at my instance, against the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, and the minister, Babatunde Fashola SAN, with Suit Number FHC/ABJ/CS/1383/2019, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, for failing and/or refusing to answer 3 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests I made to the them, and within the stipulated time. 
My plea is essentially for the the court to compel them to answer clearly and comprehensively all my enquiries related to the rehabilitation of roads and bridges in my home state (Benue) and constituency (Sankera) which Mr Fashola had on 29 July 2017 named among 63 roads and 45 bridges nationwide which the federal government had earmarked for emergency repairs and rehabilitation, and also stated that all contractors had been paid for the work.

The main contention is that there is no accountability in around these projects, as hardly any work is being done, and some of the infrastructure for rehabilitation, for which the minister, Mr Fashola, said contractors have been paid, do NOT exist at all.

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Babatunde Fashola
Babatunde Fashola

Also for the court to confer consequences for their not replying to the FOI requests and within the stipulated time.

This suit is part of a series of public interest lawsuits, in my private capacity as a citizen, against the various tiers of government, holding them to account on some key areas pertaining to open government, public finances, local government autonomy, etc.
If this lawsuit is successful, it will help in making government more open, transparent, accountable, honest and plain to us citizens on how our money is allocated and spent (thereby preventing or at least minimising its stealing and/or wastage) in order serve us and give commensurate value. It will also deepen citizen participation in governance, which is the hallmark of democracy and democratic societies.

Some recent actions and pronouncements of the court system in Nigeria have made it more a court of law, rather than the court of justice, thereby eroding public confidence in the assurance of getting justice from the it as the last hope, but we all cannot give in to fatalism and lose hope in the system entirely. We must always have faith, keep hope alive, engage the system, as we strive towards making our country and its systems work for the good of us all and our children yet unborn.

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Sesugh Akume


PS: Accompanying is my 32-paragraph affidavit in support of the lawsuit:https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:d899ecbd-be2d-4b7a-82ad-58e216eb3cd6

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