Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has issued a stern seven-day ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu, demanding an immediate and comprehensive investigation into over N78.8 billion in public funds allegedly diverted, unaccounted for, or irregularly spent under the Federal Government's cash transfer and social protection programmes. The organisation, in a letter dated September 5, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, cited damning findings from the Auditor-General of the Federation's 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, which exposed a litany of financial irregularities and systemic failures in the management of funds meant for Nigeria's poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
At the heart of the scandal is the National Cash Transfer Office's payment of N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023, a disbursement that the Auditor-General found could not be authenticated because the NCTO failed to provide REMITA statements and other records needed to verify that the funds actually reached genuine beneficiaries. The audit report also raised concerns about incomplete beneficiary information, the frustration of the audit process, and the possibility that funds may have been paid to duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible, or otherwise irregular beneficiaries. "SERAP is particularly concerned about the Auditor-General's finding that the NCTO made ₦33.751 billion in cash transfers to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries in 35 states in 2023 without evidence confirming receipt of the money by the beneficiaries," the organisation stated.
Beyond the cash transfer payments, the Auditor-General's report uncovered a litany of additional financial improprieties. The NCTO allegedly made N36.744 billion in payments without prepayment or internal audit checks, spent N4.616 billion on various expenditures without adequate supporting documentation, and disbursed N350.182 million to state coordinators for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries without proper documentation. The report also found N89.511 million in store purchases for items that were never delivered or entered in the store ledger, and N17.422 million spent through cash advances to staff for diesel. Additional concerns included N280.42 million paid as mobilisation and advance payments to payment service providers without advance payment guarantees, and N393.71 million in unutilised funds disbursed to nine states for beneficiary enrolment activities that the NCTO claimed were returned to the Treasury but which the Auditor-General found no evidence of being credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office was not spared from scrutiny. The Auditor-General identified N2.55 billion in questionable or unaccounted-for expenditure, including N2.24 billion paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit, N44.55 million spent on laptops that were neither delivered nor entered in the store ledger, and N19.76 million paid for advertisements without evidence that the publications were made. The report also cited N141.01 million paid to two contractors for software without the required clearance from the National Information Technology Development Agency, N16.93 million paid to 56 officers for National Social Register data reconciliation without supporting documentation, and N14.53 million in reimbursements relating to validation and verification activities without adequate records.
SERAP has demanded that President Tinubu direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the NCTO, and NASSCO to account for the funds and publish detailed records of all transactions. The organisation specifically called for the publication of the full audit trail of the N33.751 billion cash transfers, including the names of beneficiaries, payment details, verification records, authorisations, and reconciliations. It also demanded an explanation for the failure to provide REMITA records to the Auditor-General. SERAP further urged the President to direct appropriate anti-corruption agencies to thoroughly investigate the N76.24 billion in questionable expenditures at the NCTO and N2.55 billion at NASSCO, and to ensure the recovery and remittance of any public funds improperly spent, diverted, or lost.
In a direct and unflinching warning, SERAP declared that "anyone suspected to be responsible should be sanctioned and prosecuted as appropriate if sufficient admissible evidence is established, irrespective of status, position or institutional affiliation". The organisation stressed that "every naira identified in the report must be properly accounted for, and any public funds found to have been diverted, misapplied or 'paid to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries' must be fully recovered and remitted to the Treasury". SERAP gave the government seven days from the receipt or publication of the letter to act, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action, including proceedings before the ECOWAS Court and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.
The findings have raised fundamental questions about the integrity, transparency, and effectiveness of Nigeria's social protection system, particularly where billions of naira are intended to provide assistance to poor and vulnerable households. The failure to provide basic payment records and beneficiary information capable of establishing that public funds reached genuine beneficiaries undermines public confidence in the cash-transfer programme and creates a serious risk that funds intended for some of Nigeria's poorest and most vulnerable citizens may have been lost, misapplied, or paid to persons who were not entitled to receive them. As the seven-day deadline ticks, the Tinubu administration faces mounting pressure to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and accountability, or risk being taken to court by one of Nigeria's most dogged anti-corruption advocates. The question on everyone's lips is: will the government finally act, or will this become yet another case of stolen billions disappearing into the void of impunity?
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