The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) over the failure to account for N128 billion in public funds allegedly missing or diverted from the Ministry of Power and NBET.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026, was filed on Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, according to a statement issued on Sunday by SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
SERAP said the action followed findings contained in the 2022 audited report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on September 9, 2025.
The organisation linked the alleged financial lapses in the power sector to frequent grid collapses, noting that Nigerians experienced the first grid collapse of 2026 last week.
In the suit, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus compelling the minister and NBET to account for the N128 billion.
The group is also asking the court to direct the respondents to disclose details of how the funds were spent, including dates of disbursement, beneficiaries, contractors involved and their registered business information.
SERAP further wants the court to compel the disclosure of the names, official designations and offices of public officers who authorised or approved the release of the funds.
According to the group, Nigerians continue to bear the consequences of corruption in the electricity sector through power outages and electricity bills.
It argued that granting the reliefs sought would support accountability, address transmission failures and improve access to electricity supply.
The lawsuit, filed by SERAP’s lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, cited several observations by the Auditor-General.
These include the failure of the Ministry of Power to account for over N4.4 billion transferred to project accounts for Mambilla, Zungeru and Kashimbilla, as well as over N95 billion paid to contractors without documentation or evidence of project execution.
The report also flagged payments for foreign travel without approvals, unaccounted expenditure on digital platforms, non-personal advances exceeding statutory limits and multiple transactions lacking procurement approvals.
For NBET, the Auditor-General reported irregular contract awards, undocumented payments to beneficiaries, unverified payments to power generation companies, consultancy payments without evidence of service delivery and extra-budgetary spending without approvals.
SERAP said the alleged actions violate provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Nigeria’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
No hearing date has been fixed for the suit.
