By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
It is fake news that Nigeria is practising democracy. What happens in the so-called Giant of Africa is lootocracy.
The looting bazaar going on in all the spheres of government in Nigeria is unprecedented and quite frightening.
The country is only barely surviving on life support because she has been denuded of all its blood and tissue and fibre.
The prebendal executive arm of government keeps borrowing all the time, and the funds are deployed to bribery and corruption and funding white elephant projects that are neither here nor there.
The legislature celebrates being under the thumb of the executive hierarchy and eats all the money made willfully available by the top dog.
It is the mark of the judiciary to flaunt herself as a willing tool in the corruption game that prides money over justice.
It’s against this dire background that it came as a shock to most Nigerians that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has declared as unlawful the National Assembly’s humongous N110 billion vehicle and allowance schemes.
The court courageously ruled that the spending of N40 billion on 465 vehicles for lawmakers and N70 billion in support allowances for newly elected members breached procurement laws, constitutional obligations, and the public trust.
The fire-eating court also ordered the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, “to ensure that all future procurements or expenditure of public funds by the National Assembly comply strictly with due process requirements and are also guided by the principles of transparency, accountability and value for money.”
It was akin to a breath of fresh oxygen when the judgment was delivered on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, by Justice Yellim Bogoro in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1606/2023, filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the National Assembly.
It needs to be recalled that SERAP had earlier come under the hush of controversial judgement when the body was ordered by the FCT High Court in Abuja to pay the Directorate of State Services (DSS) a whopping N100 million as damages!
The Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare, said his organization filed the lawsuit in August 2023 against Senate President Akpabio and Speaker Abbas following their plans to spend N40 billion on 465 vehicles and N70 billion in allowances for new lawmakers amid worsening economic hardship across the country.
Justice Bogoro delivered the judgement thus: “Looking at the magnitude of the expenditure, coupled with the absence of demonstrable due process leads me to conclude that the procurement is arbitrary, disproportionate and inconsistent with statutory procurement standards.”
The firebrand lady justice stressed that “the beneficiaries of the expenditure are the very officials approving it, and the expenditure confers direct pecuniary and material benefits.” She then added this clincher: “This to my mind constitutes a case of self-dealing and conflict of interest.”
According to Justice Bogoro, “I have taken judicial notice of the economic realities in Nigeria and the widespread financial hardship affecting Nigerian citizens. In this context, the allocation of N110 billion for the benefit of lawmakers demonstrates a failure to prioritize national interest. The Defendants have urged the Court to decline jurisdiction on grounds of legislative autonomy. It should be noted that the doctrine of separation of powers does not operate as a shield for illegality. It is noteworthy to state that the Court is concerned on the legality and constitutionality of legislative spending. The allocation of N110 billion for the benefit of lawmakers also undermines the fiduciary duty owed to the Nigerian people. Public office must not be used for personal enrichment. Public officers must act within constitutional boundaries and in good faith. I hold that the conduct complained of is inconsistent with the oath of office.”
For SERAP, Justice Bogoro’s ruling is “a major victory for transparency, accountability and responsible management of public resources in Nigeria.”
If democracy is to survive in Nigeria, public office must be seen as a public trust. Spending money like it is going out of fashion has been the rule rather than the exception in the conduct of public officers.
There is the further need to get the corrupt politicos to vomit all their illicit gains against all grounds of prudence and probity.
The lawmakers who had been living large are hereby called to order to forestall the coming down of the Sword of Damocles on them and their loot.
It needs to be reiterated that whenever there is a rupture in the democratic process it is the legislature that actually gets sacked while the judiciary remains, even as some civilians are inducted into the ruling junta.
The corruption bazaar cannot be sustained.
Let me end this piece with a quote from the lines of the Fortune-Teller in James Ene Henshaw’s play, This Is Our Chance, that we staged in primary school: “A mighty wind shall blow, a great rain shall fall, much harm shall be done, but out of destruction there shall be calm and all shall not be the same again.”
Uzor Maxim Uzoatu is a renowned poet, journalist and author