The judgment, relating to the case of "Incorporated Trustees of HEDA Resource Centre v. Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; FHC/ABJ/CS/1622/2020," was issued on May 3, 2023, by Hon. Justice M.O. Olajuwon.
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), a civil society organisation, has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to comply with a recent court judgment in its favour.
The judgment, relating to the case of "Incorporated Trustees of HEDA Resource Centre v. Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; FHC/ABJ/CS/1622/2020," was issued on May 3, 2023, by Hon. Justice M.O. Olajuwon.
In a letter dated June 27, 2023, addressed to the Central Bank, the anti-corruption group referred to their previous correspondence and emphasised that the court had ruled in its favour.
An order of Mandamus was granted, compelling the Central Bank to release specific information requested through their Freedom of Information (FoI) application submitted on October 14, 2020.
The information HEDA is demanding includes a detailed breakdown of the schemes created by the Central Bank of Nigeria to sell the dollar at subsidised rates. Additionally, it is seeking the total amount disbursed for each scheme, a sector-wide breakdown of the disbursements, and detailed information on the beneficiaries, encompassing the forex intervention scheme.
The group claims that the Central Bank had not yet complied with the court's order to release the requested information. Consequently, the organisation has issued a firm demand for immediate compliance with the court judgment.
To date, the Central Bank of Nigeria has not issued an official response to the demands made by HEDA Resource Centre. However, should the Central Bank continue to defy the court's ruling, the anti-corruption has stated its intention to initiate contempt proceedings against the apex bank.
Meanwhile, HEDA noted that the case carries significant implications for transparency and accountability within the Central Bank's operations.
It added that the requested information pertains to the allocation of resources through various schemes aimed at selling the dollar at subsidised rates.
Ensuring transparency in this matter is crucial to maintain public trust and facilitate effective oversight of the country's financial institutions, it added.
As the public eagerly awaits further updates on this matter as it continues to unfold, HEDA Resource Centre said it remains resolute in its pursuit of accountability and compliance with the court judgments.
Observers and stakeholders are closely monitoring development, anticipating the Central Bank's response and the potential impact on financial transparency in Nigeria.
SaharaReporters on October 17, 2019, reported that Nigeria's apex bank had refused to disclose data on beneficiaries of exchange rate differential.
It reported that the Civic Media Lab on August 28, 2019, wrote a Freedom of Information request, seeking to know how much subsidised foreign exchange the bank had disbursed through channels such as the Forex Intervention Scheme.
According to the Lab, the need to make the FOI request was sparked by comments made by the then Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Tunji Oyebanji, that he did not know any marketer receiving forex at N305 to a dollar.
In May 2019, FBN Quest, in an analysis, said ‘The CBN’s interbank/official rate (for priority transactions) is currently N307/US$.’
The Civic Media Lab’s FOI was designed to know what these priority transactions entail.
However, CBN refused to honour the request made by Civic Media Lab for the information without providing any reason.
Based on the report and angered by the failure of the apex bank to disclose the information, HEDA approached the Federal High Court under FOI, seeking an Order of Mandamus compelling the CBN to release the information demanded in its FOI request dated October 14, 2020.
HEDA asked the court to compel the apex bank to disclose the details of those who have benefited from the forex arbitrage by CBN.
HEDA wrote to the CBN governor through the apex bank’s Information Management Division, Freedom of Information Office, seeking the information.
In the letter, HEDA sought “a detailed breakdown of the schemes created by the Central Bank of Nigeria to sell the dollar at a subsidized rate; the amount that has been given out so far for each scheme; a breakdown of the value per sector; and detailed information on the beneficiaries of the various schemes inclusive of the forex intervention scheme”.
“We believe that the records and details of the above-outlined information made available will aid the investigations being conducted by our organisation on the allegations conveyed in the report under reference,” it added.
Delivering its judgement in the Suit marked No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1622/2020 between Incorporated Trustees of HEDA Resource Center as Applicant and Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria as Respondent on May 3, 2023, the presiding judge, Justice M. O. Olajuwon, ordered the CBN to provide the details of the information requested through the FOI Act.