A lawyer, Myson Nejo, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to commit the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, to prison over the alleged failure to comply with a judgement ordering the release of details of beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme.
Mr Nejo, the applicant in the Freedom of Information (FoI) suit in which the court had earlier directed the ministry to disclose records relating to the cash transfer scheme.
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PREMIUM TIMES reported that the court granted Mr Nejo’s FoI request in a judgement delivered in November 2025 and ordered the ministry to release information concerning beneficiaries of the programme after rejecting the ministry’s refusal to disclose the records.
Matter progresses to Order 48
Following the minister’s failure to comply with the judgement since November, the applicant initiated contempt proceedings with the issuance of a Form 48 (Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order).
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On Tuesday, a Federal High Court bailiff filed an affidavit of service of the document on the minister.
The document dated 24 February shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday showed that the bailiff served the document on the minister through his office at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction on Monday.
In the application before the Federal High Court, Mr Nejo, through his lawyer, Vincent Adodo, urged the court to hold the minister in contempt for allegedly failing, without lawful excuse, to comply with the judgment directing the disclosure of the requested information.
The committal application argued that the continued non-compliance amounted to wilful disobedience of a valid and subsisting court order, an offence that could attract sanctions, including imprisonment, if established to the satisfaction of the court.
The contempt proceedings are expected to proceed to the stage of service of Form 49 (Notice to show cause why order of committal should not be made) on the minister if no action is taken to comply with the court’s judgement within a period of time. Form 49 signals the commencement of the full blown trial which will require the physical presence of the minister in the dock in court.
Background
The former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Yilwatda Nentawe, had reportedly stated in May 2025 that about six million Nigerians had received conditional cash transfers from the Federal Government.
Mr Nejo then approached the court through his counsel, Mr Adodo, seeking an order compelling the ministry to disclose particulars of beneficiaries in Ondo State under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.
In a judgment delivered on 3 November 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to disclose detailed information on beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer programme that ran from November 2024 to May 2025.
In the judgement in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1222/2025, the court found that the applicant, Mr Nejo, was entitled under the Freedom of Information Act to the information he requested, which included names of beneficiaries in the 18 local government areas of Ondo State and data on disbursements.
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The judge, Binta Nyako, ordered the ministry to release the records within seven days and awarded N2 million in damages against the ministry for its refusal to grant the request.
Mr Nejo, a lawyer and the 2024 governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ondo State, filed the suit after the ministry failed to respond to his formal FoI request.
The ministry had resisted disclosure, arguing that providing the information would violate beneficiaries’ privacy. But in her judgment, the court held that transparency and accountability in the use of public funds outweighed the ministry’s objections.
