The Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to order an urgent investigation into allegations surrounding more than ₦78.8 billion in cash transfer and social protection funds reportedly diverted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent.
SERAP also gave the Federal Government seven days to act on the allegations contained in the 2024 Annual Report of the Auditor General of the Federation, published on August 7, 2026.
In a letter dated September 5 and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation asked the President to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office, NCTO, and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, NASSCO, to account for the funds.
SERAP specifically demanded the publication of the full records and audit trail of ₦33.751 billion in cash transfers made by the NCTO to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023.
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It said the Auditor General found that the NCTO failed to provide REMITA statements required to authenticate the payments and establish whether beneficiaries were genuine and eligible.
The organisation also asked the government to explain ₦36.744 billion in payments allegedly made without prepayment audit, ₦4.616 billion in expenditures without adequate supporting documents, ₦350.182 million in enrolment payments, ₦89.511 million in store purchases and ₦17.422 million in diesel advances.
SERAP further called for investigations into ₦76.24 billion in questionable and unaccounted for expenditure at NCTO and ₦2.55 billion at NASSCO.
It said anyone found responsible should be sanctioned and prosecuted where sufficient admissible evidence exists, regardless of status or position.
“Every naira identified in the report must be properly accounted for,” SERAP said, demanding the recovery and remittance of any funds found to have been diverted, misapplied or paid to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries.
The organisation also called for the publication of a schedule showing amounts recovered, dates of recovery, institutions responsible and the Treasury accounts into which recovered funds were paid.
SERAP said the audit findings raised serious questions about the integrity and effectiveness of Nigeria’s social protection system, particularly because the funds were intended to support poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
It said the failure to provide payment records and beneficiary information created a risk that funds intended for vulnerable households could have been lost, misapplied or paid to people who were not entitled to receive them.
The organisation also raised concerns over the alleged failure to conduct mandatory prepayment audits, missing procurement records, payments for goods and services that could not be verified and weak beneficiary documentation.
According to SERAP, the NCTO paid ₦36.74 billion in December 2023 without prepayment or internal audit checks, while ₦89.51 million was reportedly spent on store items that were neither delivered nor entered in the store ledger.
It also cited the alleged disbursement of ₦350.18 million to state coordinators for enrolling unbanked beneficiaries without adequate beneficiary lists, acknowledgements or supporting documentation.
SERAP said the NCTO also allegedly paid ₦280.42 million as mobilisation and advance payments to payment service providers without advance payment guarantees.
At NASSCO, SERAP cited alleged payments including ₦2.24 billion through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit, ₦44.55 million for laptops reportedly not delivered, and ₦19.76 million for advertisements without evidence that the publications were made.
The organisation also questioned payments for software allegedly made without NITDA clearance and other expenditures relating to National Social Register reconciliation and validation.
SERAP urged the government to reconcile the cash transfers against the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register and independently verify beneficiaries to identify duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible or otherwise irregular entries.
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It also called for sufficient public disclosure of beneficiary numbers, amounts disbursed, payment dates, failed and reversed transactions, returned funds and administrative costs, while stressing that personal data and the privacy of vulnerable beneficiaries should be protected.
SERAP warned that failure to receive a response within seven days would lead it to consider legal action, including proceedings before the ECOWAS Court and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.
“There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these very serious allegations,” the organisation said.
