“Ministry No Longer Exists” — Court Dismisses Case Seeking NDDC Audit Report From Federal Government

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has struck out a suit seeking to compel the Federal Government to release the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The suit was filed by Paul Ogbonna and one other person representing a group known as Social Action against the Attorney General of the Federation.

The plaintiffs had, in 2022, after the then Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs declined to furnish their organisation with the report of the Forensic Audit, filed a suit requesting the court to mandate the ministry, headed then by Godswill Akpabio, now the Senate President, to furnish them with the NDDC forensic audit report.

But after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, upon resumption to office, proscribed the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the group amended their processes and joined the Attorney-General of the Federation as part of the defendants.

Delivering judgment on the suit, the presiding judge, Justice Turaki Mohammed, threw out the suit on the basis that it was filed against a non-existent agency of the government.

While no lawyer represented the AGF, during the judgment, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Victor Nweke, expressed his displeasure over the decision of the court, disclosing their readiness to take the next available opportunity to secure the right of his client.