The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order an investigation into more than ₦78.8 billion allegedly diverted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent under the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme.
The organisation made the demand in a letter dated September 5, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and released in a statement on Sunday.
SERAP said the allegations were contained in the 2024 Annual Report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on August 7, 2026. According to the organisation, the audit covered various periods between January and December 2023, ending on December 31, 2024.
It asked Tinubu to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) to release complete records and an audit trail for the ₦33.751 billion transferred to beneficiaries in 2023.
The records, SERAP said, should include beneficiary details, payment information, verification documents, authorisations and reconciliations, while also explaining why REMITA records were not made available to the Auditor-General.
The organisation further urged the government to account for ₦36.744 billion paid without prepayment audits, ₦4.616 billion in expenditures without supporting documents, ₦350.182 million reportedly spent on enrolment, ₦89.511 million on store purchases and ₦17.422 million in diesel advances.
SERAP also called for anti-corruption agencies to investigate what it described as ₦76.24 billion in questionable and unaccounted-for spending at the NCTO and another ₦2.55 billion at the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
The organisation said the Auditor-General found that the 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 Auditor-General found that the NCTO failed to provide REMITA statements needed to authenticate the payments and establish whether the beneficiaries were genuine and eligible. The audit report also raised concerns about incomplete beneficiary information and frustration of the audit process,” the statement read.
It added, “The Federal Government must reconcile the payments against the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register and independently verify the identity and eligibility of beneficiaries, including identifying any duplicate, fictitious, deceased, ineligible or otherwise irregular beneficiaries.
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SERAP said the audit report also identified ₦4.616 billion in payments for various expenses without adequate supporting documents, prompting the Auditor-General to raise concerns that “the money may have been diverted.”
The group said the NCTO also spent ₦36.74 billion in December 2023 without prepayment or internal audit checks. It cited additional findings involving ₦89.51 million for store items allegedly not delivered or recorded in the store ledger and ₦350.18 million paid to state coordinators for enrolling unbanked beneficiaries without sufficient documentation.
Other expenditures highlighted by SERAP included ₦17.42 million provided to staff as cash advances for diesel, ₦280.42 million paid as mobilisation and advance payments to payment service providers without advance payment guarantees, and ₦393.71 million in unused funds reportedly released to nine states for beneficiary enrolment.
At NASSCO, the organisation said the Auditor-General identified several questionable payments, including ₦2.24 billion processed through 158 vouchers without prepayment audits, ₦44.55 million for laptops that were allegedly neither delivered nor recorded in the store ledger, ₦19.76 million for advertisements without proof of publication, and ₦141.01 million paid to two contractors for software without clearance from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
SERAP said the audit also raised concerns over spending linked to the National Social Register, procurement of materials, insurance premiums and other expenses for which sufficient supporting documents or evidence of delivery were unavailable.
According to the organisation, the findings point to recurring weaknesses in financial and administrative controls, including missing payment and procurement records, unverifiable goods and services, inadequate beneficiary documentation and funds that could not be accounted for.
It asked the government to publish a detailed schedule of all recovered funds, stating the amounts recovered, dates of recovery, institutions responsible and the Treasury accounts into which the money was deposited.
SERAP also demanded the publication of sufficiently detailed but anonymised information on cash transfer beneficiaries, with appropriate measures to protect personal data and privacy.
The organisation gave the government seven days from the receipt or publication of the letter to act on its demands.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions and measures including before the ECOWAS Court, and the Inspection Panel, World Bank Accountability Mechanism to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.
“There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these very serious allegations,” SERAP said.