The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has demanded that the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, provide a detailed account of what it describes as irregularities involving “missing or diverted ₦3 trillion” highlighted in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2022 report.
The organisation issued a seven-day deadline in a letter dated November 15, signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and made available on Sunday, November 16.
It said the findings, first published on September 9, 2025, point to serious violations of financial procedures and several constitutional provisions.
According to the group, the Auditor-General’s queries amount to “grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”
SERAP warned that the lapses, if left unaddressed, further erode public confidence in the apex bank’s integrity.
“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” it said.
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SERAP’s breakdown of the report includes concerns over the non-remittance of more than ₦1.4tn in operating surplus, failure to recover ₦629bn allegedly paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of ₦784bn in overdue intervention loans.
One section of the report noted that the CBN “failed to remit over ₦1 trillion [₦1,445,593,400,000.00] of ‘the Federal Government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.”
Another raised alarms over the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, saying “the numbers of beneficiaries who collected the money are unknown.”
The Auditor-General also queried over ₦125bn spent on “questionable intervention activities” without supporting evidence, alongside ₦1.7bn used to purchase operational vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service, which he described as “unjustified.”
SERAP reminded the CBN of its constitutional obligations and stressed that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”
The organisation said it would initiate legal action if Cardoso fails to respond within seven days.