Monitoring COVID-19 management through rights advocacy

Anti-graft groups such as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) are promoting  accountability and rule of law in Nigeria’s COVID-19 management through rights advocacy, writes ROBERT EGBE

 

The doctor said Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti had a bacterial infection. But the medication/injections that followed her diagnosis didn’t stop the headaches and body pains.

Days  later, she could barely talk; it felt like there were safety pins in her throat and that the inner part of her neck was stitched together.

The second Managing Partner at AGS Tribe Youth Advisor said that was when a doctor advised her to get tested for COVID-19.

“She gave me a number to one of the centres on the (Lagos) Island. I called them, till date, they didn’t get back to me,” she said in a post last Wednesday on her LinkedIn page.

Durosinmi-Etti had to do a Rapid Antigen test and it came back positive. Thankfully, she overcame the challenge and is now COVID-19-free.

Donations pour in

Like Durosinmi-Etti, many Nigerians are facing the challenge of access to government testing for the novel coronavirus.

Some Nigerians’ inability to get tested or to get results on time is often a consequence of the country’s low testing capacity for COVID-19, currently only 2,500 samples a day.

So, weeks after Nigeria announced its COVID-19 index case on February 27, the European Union (EU) announced a $54million donation to aid Nigeria’s management of the pandemic, including to boost testing capacity.

The EU’s gesture was followed by a United Nations (UN) donation of 50 ventilators and personal protective equipment valued at $2m to the government.

The German government donated €26m; the United States (US) government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), weighed in with “new funding for Nigeria for prevention and mitigation of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), that has reached $21.4m”; while the Chinese Chamber of Commerce announced a donation of N48million.

Nigeria’s private sector also raised an estimated N27billion as of June, while the government recently announced plans to withdraw $150million from the Sovereign Wealth Fund to fight the virus, which as of now has infected over 20,000 people and claimed about 500 lives.

SERAP’s interventions

But not everyone in Nigeria is facing testing challenges. There have been several reports of government officials, politically exposed person and celebrities getting tested or receiving their results faster than the average, among other concerns about transparency in how states are spending the funds.

It is these allegations, among many others, that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has been trying to shed light on.

Last April 29, it asked the Federal Government to disclose information on the exact number of tests done for high-ranking public officials and politicians, the number of any such high-ranking public officials and politicians in self-isolation or quarantine, as well as the exact number of tests for the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

It also demanded “weekly details of exact funds and other resources allocated by the authorities and received from the private sector, as well as details of use and planned use of any such funds and resources to combat the spread of coronavirus (or COVID-19) in Nigeria.”

It explained why in two Freedom of Information (FoI) requests sent to Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire and NCDC DG Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

SERAP said: “We are concerned about the lack of transparency in the use of the funds and resources being mobilised to combat coronavirus, amid problems accessing the NCDC’s website, and reports that authorities are prioritising home testing of politicians, with some reportedly taking multiple tests.”

According to SERAP, politicians seemed to be engaging in multiple tests for coronavirus. It said this had, “in turn slowed the number of tests for the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people.”

SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, had also raised transparency concerns about a month earlier in a March 27 FoI request.

“We are concerned that lack of transparency in the use of the funds and resources to combat COVID-19 would lead to diversion or mismanagement of resources, unnecessarily cost lives, and result in serious damage to public health in the country.

“We urge you to disclose the level of enforcement for home quarantine system for high-ranking public officials, politicians and the wealthy, and whether the Ministry of Health and NCDC are carrying out spot checks to ensure strict compliance by these people.”

Demand for redirection of security votes, life pensions to fund healthcare

SERAP’s has also been keeping governments on its toes through other demands.

Last April 25, it sent Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to the 36 state governors urging them to “urgently provide information on spending details on COVID-19 in your state, and to immediately redirect public funds budgeted for security votes and life pensions for former governors from the state to invest in and improve public healthcare facilities and access to quality education.”

The request was important, because security votes have been largely recognised as a conduit pipe for corruption.

Oluwadare, who signed the letter, said: “Redirecting security votes and life pension funds to invest in public healthcare facilities and access to quality education in your state would improve your ability to respond to COVID-19, provide palliatives and socio-economic reliefs to residents, and meet the expectations of Nigerians.”

It further expressed concern that many state governors were spending scarce state resources to pay themselves security votes and their predecessors life pensions rather than using public funds to invest in public healthcare infrastructure and improve access to quality education in their states.”

Fight for improved healthcare budgets

Last April 18, the anti-graft group gave “the Federal Government and the National Assembly 14 days to reverse the proposed illegal cut of N26.51 billion in basic healthcare budget and to cut the National Assembly and Presidency budgets instead, or face legal action.”

SERAP also demanded that they “reverse the proposed illegal cut of N50.76 billion in the education budget. There is currently no proposal to cut the National Assembly and Presidency budgets.”

That’s not all. It has also filed suits against the Rivers State Government and the Federal Government following rights abuses by security agencies in the wake of lockdowns imposed to manage the pandemic.

Legal basis for SERAP’s intervention

The not-for-profit’s interventions have a sound legal basis under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2011and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which has become part of Nigerian laws.

Section 1(1) of the FoI Act, authorises organisations such as SERAP to request for or gain access to information, including information on the exact amount of funds and resources meant to combat the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria.

Sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the Act, imposes a binding legal duty to ensure that documents containing information relating to the spending and operations to combat the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria are widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the public through various means.”

 

Are the interventions working?

Whether because of SERAP and other rights groups’ interventions or not, governments at Federal and State levels now show greater openness in COVID-19 management.

For instance, the Federal Government is now publishing spending details of its COVID-19 funds. Details can be found at www.opentreasury.gov.ng