The Federal Government has told the Federal High Court in Lagos that it cannot disclose how states spent the ₦388.304 billion from the London and Paris Club loan refunds as such information is protected by professional privilege and therefore confidential.

Responding to a suit filed by a civil society organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) seeking an order directing and/or mandating the government to publish details of spending of the first tranche of the funds allegedly diverted and mismanaged by 35 states of the federation, the FG through the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris said it was not obliged to comply with the request.

Argued Idris: “The relationship between the Accountant General and the 35 states is professional and confidential. It is a fiduciary akin to that between a bank and its customer and allied professionals. On that score, record of the spending of ₦388.304 billion London and Paris Club Loan refunds by the 35 states is exempted from publication, assuming that the Federal Government has the information that is sought by SERAP,” Idris argued.

“States have exclusive control over their revenue and their expenditure and the Accountant General of the Federation cannot demand obligatorily from any tier of government, including the 35 states information on how they spent the Paris Club refunds,” he added.

The Federal Government opined that SERAP had the right to the information sought but stressed that the group should not have requested that such information be passed to the Attorney General as he had no such records and therefore could not be compelled to release such.

SERAP’s counsel however argued that although the states received the refunds, the non-payment of overdue pension entitlements and salaries of workers by the states has brought untold hardships and poverty to Nigerian citizens.

The group further maintained that assuming without conceding that the Accountant General does not have a record of how the monies were spent by the states, nothing stops him from working with other agencies and ministries to release information on the spending as he was charged with the overall responsibility of keeping and managing all the receipts and payments of the Federal Government.