The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Federal Government before the ECOWAS Court of Justice over alleged financial irregularities involving N78.8bn allocated to federal cash-transfer and social-protection programmes.
The suit follows findings in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, which identified questionable expenditures and gaps in financial records involving the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
In suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26, filed last week, SERAP is asking the court to declare that the government’s failure to account for the funds violates Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The organisation is also seeking an order compelling the government to provide a comprehensive account of the questioned funds, investigate the alleged irregularities, recover any money found to have been improperly spent or diverted, and take appropriate action against those responsible.
According to SERAP, the funds were intended to support more than 3.2 million households across 35 states, raising concerns about the potential impact of the alleged financial irregularities on vulnerable Nigerians.
The Auditor-General reportedly questioned approximately N33.751bn said to have been transferred to the households in 2023, citing the failure of the relevant authorities to provide adequate records to verify payments and reconcile beneficiary information.
The report also identified N36.744bn in payments allegedly made without prepayment audits and N4.616bn in unsupported expenditures.
Other questioned payments included N350.182m for enrolment, N89.511m for store purchases and N17.422m in diesel advances.
SERAP argued that the failure to account for the funds and investigate the findings could undermine the rights of affected Nigerians to social security and an adequate standard of living, including access to food, clothing and housing.
The organisation said cash-transfer programmes were designed to help people experiencing extreme poverty meet their basic needs, adding that the government had an obligation to ensure that public funds allocated for social protection were properly managed and reached their intended beneficiaries.
SERAP said it had previously written to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities on September 5, urging them to account for the questioned funds, publish audit records, investigate the alleged irregularities and recover any money found to have been unlawfully spent.
It also requested payment and beneficiary records, verification documents and an explanation for missing REMITA records.
However, the organisation said the deadline it gave the government to address the Auditor-General’s findings had expired without adequate action, prompting the legal challenge.
SERAP is asking the court to direct the government and relevant agencies to conduct an independent, prompt and effective investigation into the identified irregularities and strengthen financial accountability, beneficiary verification, auditing and oversight mechanisms.
It is also seeking an order requiring the government to ensure that eligible vulnerable individuals and households receive the benefits intended for them and that any established adverse effects on their rights are remedied.
The organisation maintained that the allegations raised in the Auditor-General’s report should not be treated merely as administrative irregularities where public funds intended for social protection may have been lost, improperly spent or left unaccounted for.
The suit was filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, under Article 9(4) of the ECOWAS Court Protocol.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.
