Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project have called for investigations into alleged irregularities involving funds meant for cash transfers to poor and vulnerable Nigerians. Falana urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the alleged diversion of N33.75bn, while SERAP asked President Bola Tinubu to probe more than N78.8bn in funds it said were allegedly diverted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent under federal social protection programmes.
Their demands followed findings by the Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, that the Federal Government could not provide sufficient evidence to auditors that N33.75bn in cash transfers reached genuine beneficiaries. The money was reportedly earmarked for 3,295,207 households across 35 states in 2023, according to the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies.
Falana called on the EFCC to work with the Auditor-General’s office to recover any missing funds and prosecute officials found culpable. He also urged the government to ensure that the planned $3.05bn development package supported by the World Bank, which is intended to address poverty, human capital development and economic opportunities, is protected from the alleged abuses associated with previous social investment programmes.
SERAP, in a September 5 letter to Tinubu, asked the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office to publish complete records and audit trails for the N33.751bn payments. It said the records should include beneficiaries, payments, verification, authorisations, reconciliation and REMITA statements, while also calling for an independent verification to identify duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible or otherwise irregular beneficiaries.
The organisation also cited other audit queries, including N36.744bn paid without prepayment audits, N4.616bn in expenditure without adequate supporting documents, N350.182m reportedly spent on enrolling unbanked beneficiaries and N393.71m in unutilised funds allegedly released to nine states. SERAP said the Auditor-General found no evidence that the unutilised funds were returned to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and noted that the audit report raised the possibility that some of the questioned expenditure had been diverted.
SERAP further alleged that the Auditor-General identified N2.55bn in questionable expenditures by the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, including payments made without prepayment audits, unverified procurement and missing documentation. Other concerns included N44.55m spent on laptops that were reportedly not delivered, N19.76m paid for advertisements without evidence of publication, and payments to contractors for software without the required clearance.
Falana and SERAP called for the recovery and remittance of any funds found to have been improperly spent or diverted, as well as sanctions and prosecution where sufficient evidence is established. SERAP also demanded publication of recovered amounts, state-by-state beneficiary and payment records, failed and reversed transactions, Treasury refunds and administrative costs, and a complaints mechanism for beneficiaries who did not receive their payments. It gave the government seven days to act, warning that it could pursue legal action, including proceedings before the ECOWAS Court and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.
