By Seyi Odewale
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, have intensified pressure on the Federal Government and anti-corruption agencies over alleged irregularities involving ₦78.8 billion in Nigeria’s social intervention programmes.
While SERAP asked President Bola Tinubu to order a comprehensive investigation and accounting of the funds, Falana called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately probe the alleged diversion of ₦33.75 billion meant for cash transfers to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The demands follow findings contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, which raised questions over billions of naira spent by the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
SERAP, in a letter dated September 5 and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged Tinubu to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the NCTO and NASSCO to account for funds allegedly diverted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent.
The organisation specifically called for an investigation into ₦76.24 billion in questionable expenditures linked to the NCTO and another ₦2.55 billion involving NASSCO.
It also demanded the publication of detailed records relating to ₦33.751 billion reportedly disbursed as cash transfers in 2023, including beneficiaries, payment records, verification processes, authorisations and reconciliations.
SERAP said the Auditor-General found that the NCTO transferred the ₦33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states without evidence confirming that the intended recipients received the money.
“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,” SERAP said.
It added that the situation created a serious risk that funds meant for some of Nigeria’s poorest citizens “may have been lost, misapplied or paid to persons who were not entitled to receive them.”
The rights group also cited ₦36.744 billion allegedly paid without a prepayment audit, ₦4.616 billion in expenditures lacking adequate supporting documentation, ₦350.182 million for beneficiary enrolment, ₦89.511 million for store purchases and ₦17.422 million in diesel advances.
SERAP urged the President to ensure that any public official found responsible was sanctioned and prosecuted where sufficient evidence established wrongdoing.
“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,” the organisation said.
It gave the Federal Government seven days to act, warning that it would consider legal action, including approaching the ECOWAS Court and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.
Falana, however, focused particularly on the ₦33.75 billion cash transfer controversy, urging the EFCC to work with the Auditor-General to trace the money and prosecute anyone found culpable.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should liaise with the Auditor-General of the Federation with a view to recovering the missing N33.75 billion,” Falana said.
“Furthermore, the EFCC should embark on an immediate investigation of the serious allegation of the criminal diversion of the sum of N33.75 billion in cash transfers earmarked for poor and vulnerable people in the country.”
He added that those responsible for any criminal conduct should face prosecution without delay.
Falana said the controversy had raised fresh concerns over the management of public funds earmarked for poverty alleviation, particularly against the backdrop of previous allegations involving officials and agencies responsible for social intervention programmes.
He also expressed concern over a planned $3.05 billion development package supported by the World Bank, warning that stronger safeguards were required to prevent a repeat of alleged abuses associated with earlier poverty reduction programmes.
“Instead of allowing public officers to feast on the huge funds for poverty reduction in the land, the Federal Government should set up a body constituted by representatives of credible civil society organisations to disburse the $3.05 billion package of development programmes to the poor and vulnerable people in the country,” Falana said.
The latest demands have placed renewed pressure on the Tinubu administration to establish whether the billions flagged by the Auditor-General were lost through administrative failures, weak internal controls or outright criminal diversion.
Both SERAP and Falana maintained that accountability was crucial, particularly because the funds were intended to cushion poverty and support millions of vulnerable Nigerians.
