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| Mr. Femi Falana |
A
human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has asked the Minister of
Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to supply him with information on the
$1bn loan approved by the National Assembly for the purchase of military
hardware to prosecute the war against terrorism.
Falana made the request in a letter dated January 9, 2015 on the strength of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
In his letter titled, ‘Request for
Information on US$1bn Loan for Weapons’, and dated January 9, 2015,
Falana gave Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister on the
Economy, seven days to supply the information.
He threatened to sue the minister if she failed to release the information within the seven days ultimatum.
He stated, “As this request is made
pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, you
are required to provide us with the requested information within seven
days of the receipt of this letter.
“If you fail or refuse to accede to our
request, we shall be compelled to apply to the Federal High Court for
issuance of mandamus in the circumstance.”
He
lamented that since the approval by the National Assembly for the
Federal Government to obtain the loan, the armed forces had not been
better equipped.
He added that soldiers had continued to
ask for weapons but authorities, instead of providing the equipment,
were sentencing the soldiers to death for making such legitimate demand.
He said, “As you are no doubt aware, a
total of 70 soldiers have since been convicted and sentenced to death by
the General Court Martial sitting in Abuja for the offence of mutiny
arising from the legitimate demand made by the convicts for adequate
weapons to confront the well-equipped and well motivated troops of the
dreaded Boko Haram sect.
“From the information at our disposal,
the military authorities have concluded arrangements to put hundreds of
other soldiers on trial for making a similar demand.
“Having confirmed that the members of
the armed forces are still hampered in fighting the insurgents due to
lack of equipment, we hereby request you to confirm whether the Federal
Government has acquired the military hardware from the loan of $1bn
approved by the National Assembly. If the answer is in the affirmative,
kindly furnish us with the details of the newly acquired equipment.”
Falana recalled that President Goodluck
Jonathan was compelled to ask for the loan having established that the
military was being confronted with insufficient weapons.
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