The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to disclose the names of beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Programme in Ondo State, conducted between November 2024 and May 2025.
Justice Binta Nyako, in a judgment delivered on Monday, held that the Ministry violated the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, by refusing to grant access to the requested details.
She ordered the Ministry to furnish the applicant, Myson Nejo, with the full information within seven days of the ruling.
Nejo, a legal practitioner and governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the November 2024 Ondo State election, had filed the suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1222/2025 against the Ministry after it failed to respond to his formal request for information on the CCT programme.
The applicant, through his lawyer, Vincent Adodo, sought three reliefs, including N30m in damages for the Ministry’s failure to provide the requested data.
In May 2025, The Punch had reported that then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, now National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, claimed that about six million Nigerians had benefited from the conditional cash transfer programme within six months.
Following the publication, Nejo, citing the FOI Act, wrote to the Ministry requesting the names of beneficiaries and the amount disbursed to each of the 18 local government areas in Ondo State.
In response, the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency acknowledged receipt of the letter and said the agency was “going through its archives” to compile the requested data.
However, after months of silence, Nejo filed the suit to compel disclosure.
At Monday’s proceedings, Adodo moved the motion on notice, urging the court to compel the Ministry to release the requested information in the interest of transparency and accountability.
Counsel to the Ministry, Ibrahim Moddibo, who led Noro Gwom, opposed the application, arguing that the disclosure of beneficiaries’ names would amount to an invasion of privacy, which is exempted under the FOI Act.
In his reply on points of law, Adodo contended that the public interest in disclosing how public funds were spent outweighed any potential inconvenience or privacy concern.
He urged the court to uphold the principle of transparency in governance.
In her judgment, Justice Nyako agreed with the applicant’s argument, holding that the Ministry had a legal obligation to release the requested information under the FOI Act.
The court ruled that the plaintiff was entitled to access the records and ordered the Ministry to provide the full list of beneficiaries and financial details within seven days.
Justice Nyako also awarded N2m in damages against the Ministry for failing to comply with the FOI request, describing the non-disclosure as “a breach of the applicant’s statutory right to information.”
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