Ekiti Airport Project: Group sues Oyebanji, others, demands contract documents, financial details

A socio-political group, under the aegis of Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum, has filed for an order of Mandamus before the Ekiti State High Court to compel the State government to release to it all documents, including financial records and loans, relating to the Ekiti International Cargo Airport project.

Lead counsel to the group, Oluwagbenga Babawibe, also the secretary to the forum, made this known in a statement, including court processes, made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday.

Recall that on 15 October 2022, about a day before his exit from office, the then-outgoing governor, Kayode Fayemi, whose administration initiated the project, commissioned the airport. At the time, the facility was yet to commence operation due to the absence of navigational and some other equipment.

During the commissioning, a military aircraft, marked ATR-42, belonging to the Nigerian Air Force, touched down at the airport to the excitement of many residents.

Mr Babawibe said the motion exparte for the request for the order of Mandamus was filed before the State High Court on 28 March, in suit No – HAD//352m/2024, between the group and the government.

The counsel said the request was made for the documents pursuant to the provisions of the Ekiti State Freedom of Information Law, 2011.

He disclosed that his law firm, Urban Attorneys & Solicitors, acting for the forum, had since 22 November 2023, made the written request to the government through the offices of Secretary to the State Government, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, and the State Accountant General.

He noted that the receipt of the letter was acknowledged on 11 December 2023 by the Accountant General’s office but without any action.

Mr Babawibe said when the letter was written in 2023, the group had given a seven-day ultimatum, within which the request should be accessed, and also warned then that failure to act on it would force the group into approaching the court to compel the government to act.

He, however, regretted that up till now, despite all the efforts, no response had been received from the government, hence the decision to resort to the court to force the government to act on the said request.

The state government is said to have signed the contract with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Limited (CCECCL).

Also, in an affidavit in support of the motion exparte, Tope Kolawole, a legal practitioner in the same law firm, said the Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum is comprised of very responsible Ekiti indigenes who are always working towards the development and growth of the state.

He said the latest action by the group had become necessary for want of probity, accountability, and effective management of public funds.

He noted that the group, which has the right to know how the public fund is spent, had no option but to apply for leave of the court to file for the said order of mandamus after all subtle means of getting the relevant documents failed to yield results.