Court fixes April 27 for judgment in Okigbo Report suit

Written by Tunde Oyesina, AbujaThursday, 22 March 2012

THE Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed April 27 for judgment in a suit seeking to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney-General of the Federation to disclose how the $12.4 billion oil windfall that accrued to the Federal Government between 1988 and 1994 was spent.

The suit was instituted by six civil society groups led by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.
Justice Gabriel Kola-wole, on Wednesday, ordered all the parties to appear on the next

adjourned date, to re-adopt their processes to enable him to give verdict on the case.

The plaintiffs had prayed the court for “an order of mandamus compelling the respondents, individually and/or collectively, to publish detailed statement of account relating to the spending of $12.4 billion oil windfall between 1988 and 1994, and to publish in major national newspapers a copy of the statement of account.”

In 1994, the Federal Government constituted the Pius Okigbo Panel with a mandate to investigate the activities of the CBN.

In the course of its assignment, the panel reportedly uncovered that about $12.4 billion that was reserved in the “Dedicated and Special Accounts,” was depleted to $200 million by June 1994.

SOURCE: The Tribune, 22 March 2012. http://tribune.com.ng