The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sued the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the alleged failure to account for over ₦78.8bn allocated to federal cash-transfer and social-protection programmes.
The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26 and filed last week, seeks a declaration that the government’s failure to account for the funds is unlawful and violates Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
SERAP announced the case in a statement issued on Sunday by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare. The allegations are documented in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, covering periods between January 2023 and December 2024.
According to the report, the Auditor-General questioned approximately ₦33.751bn reportedly transferred to more than 3.2 million households across 35 states in 2023 without adequate records to verify the payments and reconcile beneficiary records. It also identified ₦36.744bn in payments allegedly made without prepayment audits, ₦4.616bn in unsupported expenditure, ₦350.182m for enrolment, ₦89.511m for store purchases and ₦17.422m in diesel advances.
The suit involves the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office.
SERAP is asking the court to order the government to account comprehensively for the questioned funds, investigate the alleged irregularities, recover any money improperly spent or diverted, and strengthen financial oversight of social-protection programmes. It also seeks an order restraining the administration or disbursement of the funds without adequate financial accountability, beneficiary verification, auditing and oversight mechanisms.
The organisation argued that the alleged irregularities could undermine the rights of vulnerable households to social security and an adequate standard of living, including access to food, clothing and housing. It said the funds were intended to benefit more than 3.2 million households across 35 states.
SERAP said it had earlier written to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities on September 5, 2026, requesting action on the findings, and that the deadline it gave elapsed without adequate action.
The case was filed on SERAP’s behalf by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, under Article 9(4) of the ECOWAS Court Protocol.
Sources: Punch, Premium Times, Vanguard
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