SERAP Urges Tinubu to Probe N78.8bn Cash Transfer Funds

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has asked President Bola Tinubu to order an investigation into more than N78.8 billion linked to Nigeria’s federal cash transfer programme, following concerns raised in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 report. The organisation made the demand in a letter dated September 5, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.

SERAP wants the government to establish how the funds were spent, verify the beneficiaries who received the payments and determine whether any public money was diverted, improperly spent or left unaccounted for.

The organisation also called on the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the National Cash Transfer Office to release detailed records of the N33.751 billion transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023.

According to SERAP, the audit report found that the National Cash Transfer Office did not provide the REMITA payment records needed to confirm that the beneficiaries actually received the money. The organisation said the government should compare the payments with the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register to confirm the identity and eligibility of recipients.

SERAP further urged the authorities to check for duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible or otherwise irregular beneficiaries as part of the verification process.

The group also drew attention to N36.744 billion reportedly paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit checks. It said the audit raised questions about N4.616 billion spent without sufficient supporting documents and other payments linked to enrolment activities, store purchases and diesel advances.

SERAP said the audit report identified N350.182 million paid to state coordinators for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries without adequate documentation. It also cited N89.511 million spent on store items that were allegedly neither delivered nor properly entered into the relevant records.

Another N17.422 million was reportedly advanced to staff for diesel purchases, while N280.42 million was paid as mobilisation and advance payments to payment service providers without the required advance payment guarantees. SERAP also cited N393.71 million reportedly released to nine states for beneficiary enrolment activities but left unused.

The organisation further called for an investigation into N76.24 billion in expenditures it described as questionable or unaccounted for at the National Cash Transfer Office, as well as N2.55 billion linked to the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office.

On the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, SERAP referred to several payments that it said lacked proper audit clearance or sufficient records. These included N2.24 billion paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit, N44.55 million for laptops reportedly not delivered or recorded in the store ledger, and N19.76 million spent on advertisements without evidence that the adverts were published.

SERAP also cited N141.01 million paid to two contractors for software without clearance from the National Information Technology Development Agency.

The organisation said the audit findings pointed to repeated weaknesses in financial management, including missing records, poor documentation, payments for goods and services that could not be properly verified and inadequate information about beneficiaries.

SERAP wants the government to publish details of any money recovered from the affected funds. It also asked authorities to state the amount recovered, when the recovery took place, which institution handled it and the Treasury account where the recovered funds were deposited.

The organisation further requested the publication of sufficiently detailed but properly anonymised information on cash transfer beneficiaries, with safeguards to protect personal data and privacy.

SERAP said the measures should be addressed within seven days of the receipt or publication of its letter. It warned that failure to act could lead it to consider legal steps, including proceedings before the ECOWAS Court and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.

The group said investigating the audit findings would help establish whether the reported financial irregularities occurred and ensure that public funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians are properly accounted for.

The allegations cited by SERAP are based on findings contained in the Auditor-General’s report and do not, by themselves, establish that the funds were stolen or diverted. Any criminal or financial wrongdoing would need to be established through proper investigation and due process.