The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over alleged financial irregularities involving ₦78.8 billion allocated to cash-transfer and social-protection programmes for vulnerable Nigerians.
The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26, follows findings in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026. The allegations involve the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office.
According to SERAP, the Auditor-General questioned approximately ₦33.751 billion reportedly transferred to more than 3.2 million households across 35 states in 2023 because adequate records to verify the payments and reconcile beneficiary information were not provided.
The report also flagged ₦36.744 billion in payments reportedly made without prepayment audits and ₦4.616 billion in expenditure lacking adequate supporting documentation. Other questioned transactions included payments for enrolment, store purchases and diesel advances.
SERAP is asking the court to order the government to provide a comprehensive account of the funds, investigate the reported irregularities, recover any money established to have been improperly spent or diverted, and take appropriate action against anyone found responsible, subject to due process.
The organisation argues that failures to account for funds intended to support vulnerable households could undermine Nigerians’ rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, including access to food, clothing and housing.
SERAP said it had previously written to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities on September 5, 2026, requesting the publication of financial records, an investigation into the audit findings and the recovery of any funds found to have been unlawfully spent. It said the deadline it gave the government had elapsed without adequate action.
The case comes amid wider concerns about poverty and the effectiveness of social-protection programmes. TheDailyNewsHub previously reported on the IMF’s call for targeted cash transfers to support Nigeria’s poorest households.
The allegations have yet to be determined by the court, and the audit findings alone do not establish that the funds were stolen or diverted. No hearing date has been fixed for the suit.