The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to release the names of beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programme carried out in Ondo State between November 2024 and May 2025.
Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgment on Monday, ruled that the Ministry violated the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, by failing to provide the requested details.
She ordered the Ministry to furnish the applicant, Mr. Myson Nejo, a legal practitioner and governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the November 2024 Ondo State election, with the full information within seven days.
Nejo had dragged the Ministry before the court in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1222/2025, after it failed to respond to his formal FOI request seeking the list of beneficiaries and the amount disbursed in each of the 18 local government areas of Ondo State.
Through his counsel, Mr. Vincent Adodo, the applicant sought three reliefs, including a demand for ₦30 million in damages for the Ministry’s refusal to provide the requested data.
In May 2025, The Punch had reported that the then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, who is now the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), claimed that about six million Nigerians benefited from the CCT scheme within six months.
Following that report, Nejo, relying on the FOI Act, wrote to the Ministry requesting the breakdown of beneficiaries and funds allocated to Ondo State. The National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) acknowledged receipt of the letter and stated that the agency was “going through its archives” to compile the data.
However, after several months without a response, Nejo filed a suit to compel the Ministry to release the information.
At Monday’s proceedings, Adodo urged the court to compel the Ministry to make the details public, stressing that transparency and accountability were central to good governance.
In his opposition, counsel to the Ministry, Mr. Ibrahim Moddibo, who appeared with Mr. Noro Gwom, argued that releasing the list of beneficiaries would amount to an invasion of privacy, an exemption provided for under the FOI Act.
In his reply on points of law, Adodo contended that public interest in transparency and accountability outweighed any claim to privacy, especially since public funds were involved.
In her judgment, Justice Nyako agreed with the applicant’s argument, holding that the Ministry had a statutory obligation to provide the requested information under the FOI Act.
The court consequently ordered the Ministry to release the full list of beneficiaries and financial details within seven days and awarded ₦2 million in damages against the Ministry for non-compliance.
Justice Nyako described the refusal to disclose the information as “a breach of the applicant’s statutory right to information,” emphasizing that public funds must always be open to public scrutiny.
