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The sum of fifty-five million Naira involved in the illegal transaction has been recovered;
Adequate local remedies exist in Nigeria and have been employed by the State, and the
Complainant has failed to exhaust these local remedies;
The facts alleged by the Complainant are purely criminal in nature and do not amount to an
official policy by the government to deny the people of Nigeria the ‘right to productive use of
their resources’ or their ‘right to education’ as alleged;
The complaint has been filed before the African Commission on the basis of generalised
statements and information obtained from unverified sources and that there are no statistical or
other information supplied in support of these general statements; and
The government has been carrying out various initiatives, including negotiating for debt relief
with the Paris Club of Creditors, to significantly impact on the level of poverty in the country.
32. The Respondent State in its additional submission on admissibility reiterates the fact that this
communication offends the fifth ground of admissibility set out under Article 56 of the African Charter.
Furthermore, that Chapter 2 (sections 13 to 24 ) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 shows the State’s
commitment to promotion and protection of the socio-economic rights of its citizens.
Decision of the African Commission on admissibility
33. The admissibility of communications before the African Commission is governed by the
requirements of Article 56 of the African Charter which provides seven requirements that must be met
before the African Commission can declare a communication admissible. If one of these requirements
is not met, the African Commission will declare the communication inadmissible, unless the
Complainant provides justifications why any of the requirements could not be met.
34. In the present communication, the Complainants submit that they have complied with all the
requirements under Article 56of the Charter, except Article 56.5 due to the absence of local remedies.
The State however argues that the communication does not satisfy Article 56.5 of the Charter, as well
as Article 56.2 of the Charter. The African Commission will thus deal with the above provisions.
35. As indicated earlier, for a communication to be declared admissible, it must meet all the
requirements under Article 56. Thus, if a party contends that another party has not complied with any
of the requirements, the Commission must pronounce itself on the contentious issues between the
parties. However, the Commission shall also examine other requirements ofArticle 56 which are not
contested by the parties.
36. Article 56.1 of the African Charter provides that communications will be admitted if the authors
indicate their identity, even if they request anonymity. In the present case the author of this
communication is SERAP, which is an NGO based in Lagos. The author of the communication is thus
clearly identified.
37. Article 56.2 of the African Charter provides that a communication must be compatible with the
Charter of the OAU or with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In the present
communication, the Respondent State argues that the communication does not comply with this
requirement. The State asserts in this regard that the complaint does not disclose a breach of any
municipal law within Nigeria or the breach of any international treaties or conventions to which Nigeria
is a party.
38. For a complaint to be compatible with the Charter or the Constitutive Act, it must prove a prima
facie violation of the Charter. Compatibility according to the Black’s Law Dictionary denotes “in
compliance with and in conformity with” or “not contrary to” or “against”. In this communication, the
Complainant alleges violation of the right to education, health and enjoyment of natural resources
occasioned by the actions of the Respondent State. These allegations do raise a prima facieviolation
of human rights guaranteed in the Charter. Based on the above, the African Commission is satisfied
that Article 56.2of the African Charter in the present communication has been sufficiently complied
with.
39. Article 56.3 of the Charter provides that a communication will be admitted if it is not written in
disparaging or insulting language directed against the State concerned and its institutions or to the