The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), over what it describes as their failure to account for an alleged ₦128 billion in missing or diverted public funds linked to the power sector.
The allegations are contained in the latest annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on 9 September 2025. SERAP says the alleged corruption has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s persistent power failures, noting that Nigerians last week witnessed the first national grid collapse of 2026, which plunged large parts of the country into darkness.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026 and filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr. Adelabu and NBET to account for the missing or diverted ₦128 billion from the ministry of power and NBET.”
The organisation is also asking the court to compel the defendants to disclose full details of how the alleged missing funds were spent, including dates of disbursement, the identities of beneficiaries or contractors, as well as their registered business names and addresses.
SERAP further wants an order directing Mr. Adelabu and NBET to reveal “the full names, official designations, and offices of all public officers who authorized, approved, or otherwise participated in the release of the missing or diverted ₦128 billion in the ministry of power and NBET.”
In its arguments before the court, SERAP stated that “Nigerians continue to pay the price for the widespread and grand corruption in the power sector. There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these grave allegations.”
The group also argued that granting the reliefs sought would help tackle corruption in the electricity sector, address the frequent breakdown of transmission infrastructure, and improve Nigerians’ access to regular and uninterrupted power supply.
According to SERAP, the orders would also “strike a blow against the impunity of those responsible for the missing or diverted public money meant to provide Nigerians with access to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.”
“Ordinary Nigerians continue to pay the price for corruption in the electricity sector – staying in darkness, but still made to pay crazy electricity bills,” the organisation said.
The lawsuit, filed on SERAP’s behalf by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, relies heavily on findings in the Auditor-General’s report. Part of the suit states: “These grim allegations by the Auditor-General suggest a grave violation of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international anticorruption standards.”
According to the 2022 audited report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Power allegedly failed to account for over ₦4.4 billion transferred to the Mambilla, Zungeru and Kashimbilla project accounts. The report noted that there was “no evidence of how the funds were expended” and warned that “the money may have been diverted,” recommending recovery and remittance to the treasury.
The Auditor-General also queried payments of over ₦95 billion made to contractors for various projects, stating that there was no documentation to support the payments or evidence that the projects were executed. Similar concerns were raised over ₦33.5 million reportedly spent on foreign travels without the required approvals, ₦230 million expended on the GIGMIS platform without proper accountability, and ₦282 million paid as non-personal advances to staff beyond statutory limits.
The report further detailed a series of alleged financial irregularities at NBET, including the irregular award of contracts worth over ₦427 million, transfers of more than ₦7.6 billion into sub-accounts of unnamed beneficiaries without authorisation, and payments running into billions of naira to power companies and consultants without adequate documentation or evidence of work done.
Other queried expenditures include payments for vehicles, consultancy services, legal fees, staff training programmes, festive welfare packages, and extra-budgetary spending exceeding ₦1 billion, all allegedly made without proper approvals or supporting records.
SERAP also cited constitutional and international obligations, arguing that Section 13 and Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution impose a duty on the Ministry of Power and NBET to eliminate corruption and abuse of power. It also referenced Article 26 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which Nigeria has ratified, requiring effective and dissuasive sanctions in cases of grand corruption.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
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