The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order an urgent investigation into more than ₦78.8 billion in public funds allegedly diverted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent under Nigeria’s social protection programmes.
SERAP made the demand in a letter dated 5 September 2026 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
The organisation based its concerns on findings contained in the 2024 Annual Report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on 7 August 2026. The report examined various periods between January and December 2023, with some findings extending to 31 December 2024.
SERAP wants Tinubu 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 highlighted in the audit report.
The organisation specifically demanded the publication of the complete records and audit trail for ₦33.751 billion in 2023 cash transfers, including beneficiary details, payments, verification, authorisations and reconciliation records.
It also wants the government to explain why REMITA statements needed to authenticate the payments were not provided to the Auditor-General.
According to SERAP, the NCTO should further account for ₦36.744 billion paid without prepayment audits, ₦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 also urged the President to direct anti-corruption agencies to investigate ₦76.24 billion in questionable and unaccounted-for NCTO expenditures and ₦2.55 billion at NASSCO.
It said any public funds found to have been improperly spent, diverted or lost should be recovered and returned to the Treasury.
“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,” SERAP said.
The organisation added: “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.”
Questions over ₦33.7bn cash transfers
SERAP said the Auditor-General found that NCTO transferred ₦33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023, but there was no evidence confirming that the beneficiaries actually received the funds.
The organisation said NCTO failed to provide REMITA statements required to authenticate the transactions and establish whether beneficiaries were genuine and eligible.
SERAP wants the Federal Government to reconcile the payments against the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register and independently verify beneficiaries.
It said the process should identify duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible or otherwise irregular beneficiaries.
The organisation also called for the publication of state-by-state beneficiary figures, amounts disbursed, payment dates, failed and reversed transactions, money returned to the Treasury and administrative and transaction costs.
Audit raises procurement and payment concerns
The Auditor-General reportedly found that NCTO paid ₦4.616 billion for various expenditures without adequate supporting documentation, raising concerns that the money may have been diverted.
NCTO also reportedly paid ₦36.74 billion in December 2023 without prepayment or internal audit checks, contrary to applicable financial regulations.
Another ₦89.51 million was reportedly spent on store items that were neither delivered nor entered in the store ledger, which SERAP said had not been updated since 2020.
The audit also identified ₦350.18 million disbursed to state coordinators for enrolling unbanked beneficiaries without adequate beneficiary lists, acknowledgements or supporting documentation.
NCTO reportedly spent another ₦17.42 million through cash advances to staff for diesel purchases, despite concerns that the expenditure should have gone through the applicable procurement process.
The Auditor-General also reportedly flagged ₦280.42 million paid as mobilisation and advance payments to payment service providers without Advance Payment Guarantees.
In addition, NCTO allegedly failed to account for ₦393.71 million in unused funds distributed to nine states for beneficiary enrolment activities.
NASSCO payments also questioned
SERAP said NASSCO was similarly flagged over several expenditures.
These include ₦2.24 billion paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit, ₦44.55 million for laptops that were not delivered or entered in the store ledger, and ₦19.76 million for advertisements without evidence that the publications were made.
Another ₦141.01 million was reportedly paid to two contractors for software without NITDA clearance.
The audit also reportedly identified ₦16.93 million paid to 56 officers for National Social Register data reconciliation without supporting documents and ₦14.53 million for staff reimbursement connected to register validation and verification activities.
SERAP said NASSCO also paid ₦14.53 million to one officer, rather than individually to the 55 staff concerned, without acknowledgements of receipt.
Other concerns included ₦27.56 million awarded to an allegedly unqualified contractor for designing and printing materials and ₦44 million in insurance premiums paid to two companies without evidence of the premium payments.
SERAP threatens legal action
SERAP said the findings raise fundamental questions about the transparency and effectiveness of Nigeria’s social protection system, particularly because the programmes are intended to support poor and vulnerable households.
It said the failure to provide payment records and beneficiary information creates a risk that money intended for vulnerable Nigerians may have been lost, misapplied or paid to ineligible recipients.
The organisation wants the Ministry to publish a clear schedule showing the amounts recovered, dates of recovery, responsible institutions and Treasury accounts into which recovered funds were paid.
It also called for a comprehensive and regularly updated beneficiary register, subject to safeguards protecting vulnerable people’s personal data and privacy.
SERAP gave the government seven days from receipt or publication of its letter to implement the requested measures.
It warned that failure to act could lead to legal action, including proceedings before the ECOWAS Court and the Inspection Panel of the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.
SERAP said the demands were grounded in Nigeria’s constitutional obligations to combat corruption and promote public welfare, as well as the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
