SERAP drags FG to ECOWAS Court over alleged N78.8bn cash transfer irregularities

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Federal Government before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over alleged diversion, irregular expenditure and failure to account for N78.8 billion allocated to cash-transfer and social-protection programmes.

The organisation is asking the regional court to compel the government to account for the funds, investigate the alleged financial irregularities and recover any money found to have been improperly spent or diverted.

SERAP disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, stating that the allegations involved the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office.

The allegations were contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, covering various periods between January 2023 and December 31, 2024.

The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26 and filed last week, seeks a declaration that the alleged failure to account for the funds and adequately investigate the reported irregularities violates Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.

According to SERAP, the funds were intended to support more than 3.2 million households across 35 states through cash transfers and other social-protection interventions.

“The funds were intended to benefit over 3.2 million households across 35 states, whose access to financial assistance has been affected by the allegations made by the Auditor-General,” the organisation stated.

The suit was filed by SERAP’s lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi.

SERAP said the Auditor-General’s report questioned approximately N33.751 billion reportedly transferred to more than 3.2 million households across 35 states in 2023, citing the failure to provide adequate documentation to verify payments and reconcile beneficiary records.

The report also identified N36.744 billion in payments allegedly made without prepayment audits, N4.616 billion in unsupported expenditure, N350.182 million for enrolment, N89.511 million for store purchases and N17.422 million in diesel advances.

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SERAP argued that the findings raised concerns about the management of public funds earmarked for vulnerable households and the effectiveness of existing financial oversight mechanisms.

“The failure to investigate the N78.8 billion cash-transfer scandal, account for the questioned funds and recover any unlawfully spent amounts violates Nigeria’s obligations to protect the human rights of vulnerable households,” the suit stated.

The allegations have not, by themselves, established that the funds were stolen or diverted. SERAP is asking the court to compel the relevant authorities to investigate the reported irregularities and determine whether any public money was unlawfully spent or lost.

SERAP seeks investigation, recovery of funds

Among the reliefs sought, SERAP wants the ECOWAS Court to order an independent, prompt and effective investigation into the questioned expenditure and require the government to recover any funds found to have been improperly spent, diverted or lost.

It is also seeking appropriate legal or administrative action against officials or other persons found responsible, subject to due process.

The organisation wants the government to strengthen financial accountability, beneficiary verification, auditing, payment reconciliation and monitoring systems to prevent a recurrence of the alleged irregularities.

It is further asking the court to restrain the government from administering or disbursing cash-transfer and social-protection funds without adequate accountability and oversight mechanisms.

SERAP argued that cash-transfer programmes could help alleviate extreme poverty and enable vulnerable Nigerians to meet basic needs, including food, clothing and housing.

However, it maintained that establishing a formal programme was insufficient without effective systems for tracking beneficiaries, verifying payments, monitoring expenditure and addressing financial losses.

“The right to social security cannot be effectively realised merely by establishing a formal cash-transfer programme where the State fails to maintain reasonable systems for identifying beneficiaries, maintaining records, reconciling disbursements, monitoring expenditure, investigating irregularities and remedying losses,” the statement added.

SERAP based its case on Nigeria’s obligations under international and regional human rights instruments, including Articles 1 and 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which concern the implementation of protected rights and equal enjoyment of those rights.

SERAP said it had previously written to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities seeking the publication of audit records, an investigation into the questioned expenditure and the recovery of any funds found to have been unlawfully spent or diverted.

Following the publication of the Auditor-General’s report, the organisation issued a public statement and sent a letter dated September 5, 2026, requesting action on the findings. It also sought payment and beneficiary records, verification documents and an explanation for missing REMITA records.

According to SERAP, the deadline it gave the government to address the findings had expired without adequate action.

The organisation said the lawsuit was intended to protect affected households and ensure that public funds allocated for their benefit were properly accounted for.