A rights organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc to a Federal High Court in Abuja over their failure to account for the “missing or diverted N128 billion of public funds from the Ministry of Power and NBET”.
The suit was an off-shoot of grave allegations documented in the latest annual report published by the Auditor-General of the Federation on 9th September, 2025
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026, the rights group is seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Adelabu and NBET to account for the missing or diverted ₦128 billion from the ministry of power and NBET”.
SERAP is also seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Adelabu and NBET to disclose details of how the missing or diverted ₦128 billion was spent including the dates of disbursement and the purported beneficiaries or contractors, who received the money as well as their registered business names and addresses”.
The rights group is equally seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Adelabu and NBET to disclose 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 the suit, SERAP argued 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 allegation.
“Granting the reliefs sought would contribute to tackling corruption in the power sector and addressing the persistent breakdown of transmission lines in the country, as well as improving access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.
“These grim allegations by the Auditor-General suggest a grave violation of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international anti-corruption standards.
“According to the recently published 2022 audited report by the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Power failed to account for over N4.4 billion [N4,404,647,938.53] ‘transferred to Mambilla, Zungeru and Kashimbilla project accounts by the Ministry.
“There was ‘no evidence of how the funds were expended.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“The ministry also paid over N95 billion [N95,415,183,701.83] to ‘some contractors for various projects.’ But ‘there was no document on the payments, and no evidence that the projects existed and were executed.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered.
“The ministry paid over N33 million [N33,557,959.00] ‘for foreign travels’, but ‘without any approvals.’ The money ‘was paid as estacode, flight tickets, visa fees and other allowances to enable the minister and his aides to attend the World Utilities Congress at Abu Dhabi and Huawei innovation land exhibition in Dubai.
“The travels ‘were never approved by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or the Head of Civil Service.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“The ministry failed to account for over N230 million [N230,795,255.27] being ‘expenditure on the GIGMIS platform.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“The ministry also paid over N282 million [N282,672,576.53] as ‘non-personal advances to various staff of the ministry for the procurement of goods and services.’ But the ‘payments were beyond the statutory threshold of N200,000.00.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered.
“The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc., (NBET) Abuja also ‘irregularly awarded contracts for over N427 million [N427,491,866.16]. There was ‘no evidence of advert placements in the procurement journal’.
“The Auditor-General fears ‘the contracts may have been awarded to incompetent contractors’, resulting in ‘loss of government funds.
“NBET ‘irregularly transferred over N7 billion [N7,620,840,000.00] into purported sub-accounts of unnamed beneficiaries.’ There was also ‘no authority for such payment, contrary to the Financial Regulations.
“NBET claimed it paid over N9.3 billion [N9,336,986,697.17] to Egbin Power PLC ‘as outstanding payment on GenCos for Power Sector Reform Programme.’ But there ‘was no document to authenticate the genuineness of the transactions.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered”.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
