A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, had on Thursday struck out the suit filed by civil society groups against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the $12.4 billion oil windfall.
The presiding judge, Gabriel Kolawole, in his verdict said the applicants lack the locus standi to file such a case.
He added that the plaintiffs should not be seen as busy ‘bodies’ but patriotic Nigerians.
It would be recalled that six civil society groups, viz. the Socio-Economic and Accountability Project (SERAP), sued the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the $12.4 billion oil windfall, which the nation recorded between 1988 and 1992, during the dispensation of Ibrahim Babangida’s as the military president.
The groups wanted the court to force the government to release a report of a probe panel led by Pius Okigbo over the spending of the money by the government.
The Federal Government countered the suit saying that the report was missing, adding that only the AGF could demand for such a report.
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