The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project says it has sued the Federal Government over alleged irregularities involving more than ₦78.8 billion allocated to cash-transfer and social-protection programmes.
In a statement issued on Sunday, 25 October, SERAP said it was asking the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to order a verifiable account of the questioned expenditure. It also seeks an independent investigation and recovery of any public money established to have been improperly spent, diverted or lost.
The organisation identified the case as ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26 and said its lawyers filed it in Abuja last week. Its announcement concerns the commencement of legal proceedings. The allegations have not been established by a judgment in the case.
SERAP said the issues involved the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office. It attributed the underlying findings to the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, which it said was published on 7 August 2026.
According to the organisation’s account of the audit, approximately ₦33.751 billion reportedly transferred to more than 3.2 million households across 35 states in 2023 was questioned because adequate records were not supplied to verify payments and reconcile beneficiary information.
It also cited ₦36.744 billion in payments allegedly made without prepayment audits and ₦4.616 billion in expenditure lacking adequate supporting documents. The organisation listed additional questioned payments for enrolment, store purchases and diesel advances. These are categories of alleged financial and documentation irregularities, rather than a judicial determination that every questioned payment was stolen.
The lawsuit asks the court to direct the government, through the cash-transfer and social-safety-net offices and other relevant agencies, to supply payment records, beneficiary details, verification documents and financial reconciliation records.
SERAP also wants orders requiring stronger auditing and oversight arrangements. Any recovery of funds or action against individuals would depend on wrongdoing being established, with legal or administrative proceedings conducted in accordance with due process.
The organisation argues that failures to administer social-protection funds properly can affect the rights of vulnerable households. Its case links financial accountability to access to benefits intended to help recipients meet basic needs, including food, clothing and housing.
It further argues that weak beneficiary verification and inadequate records can result in eligible people being excluded or receiving unequal access to assistance. Those arguments form part of SERAP’s application and remain for the court to consider.
The legal action follows a letter SERAP said it sent to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities on 5 September. The organisation said it requested accounts of the questioned funds, publication of audit records, investigations and recovery of money found to have been unlawfully spent or diverted.
It also requested beneficiary and payment records, verification documents and explanations concerning missing REMITA records. SERAP said the deadline it gave the government expired without an adequate response.
The organisation named Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi as its lawyers. Its statement did not include the Federal Government’s response to the application. SERAP said no date had been fixed for a hearing.
