A Federal High Court in Abuja Thursday dismissed a suit seeking to expose how the U.S.$12.5 billion oil windfall recorded by Nigeria under the leadership of retired General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida between 1988 and 1994 was spent.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole said the applicant had no locus standi to institute the action and that they failed to establish by admissible evidence that they were entitled to a hearing.

Six civil society groups sued the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) asking that the accrued revenue be accounted for.

The groups are the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Women Advocates and Documentation Center, Committee for Defence of Human Rights, Access to Justice, Human and Environmental Development Agenda and Partnership for Justice.

The applicants, through their counsel, Femi Falana, SAN, had asked the court to make an order of mandamus compelling the AGF and CBN to publish a detailed statement of account showing how the money was spent between 1988 and 1994.