The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken the Federal Government to the ECOWAS Court of Justice over N78.8bn in questioned spending on federal cash-transfer and social-protection programmes.
The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26 and filed last week, follows the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, released on August 7, 2026. The report flagged dubious expenditures and gaps in financial records at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
SERAP wants the court to declare that the government’s failure to account for the funds breaches Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
It is also asking the court to compel the government to render a full account of the funds, investigate the alleged irregularities, recover any money found to have been wrongly spent or diverted, and sanction those responsible.
According to the group, the money was meant to support over 3.2 million households across 35 states.
The Auditor-General reportedly queried about N33.751bn said to have been transferred to households in 2023, citing the absence of adequate records to verify payments and reconcile beneficiary information.
The report also identified N36.744bn in payments made without prepayment audits and N4.616bn in unsupported expenditures. Other questioned items include N350.182m for enrolment, N89.511m for store purchases and N17.422m in diesel advances.
SERAP argued that failure to account for the funds and probe the findings could undermine the right of affected Nigerians to social security and an adequate standard of living, including access to food, clothing and housing.
The group said cash-transfer programmes exist to help people in extreme poverty meet basic needs, stressing that the government is obliged to ensure funds earmarked for social protection are properly managed and reach the intended beneficiaries.
SERAP said it wrote President Bola Tinubu and the relevant authorities on September 5, urging them to account for the funds, publish audit records, investigate the irregularities and recover any money unlawfully spent. It also requested payment and beneficiary records, verification documents and an explanation for missing REMITA records.
However, it said the deadline it set expired without adequate action, leaving it no option but to go to court.
The organisation further wants the court to direct the government and its agencies to carry out an independent, prompt and effective investigation, and to strengthen financial accountability, beneficiary verification, auditing and oversight mechanisms.
It is also seeking an order compelling the government to ensure that eligible vulnerable individuals and households receive their intended benefits, and that any established harm to their rights is remedied.
SERAP maintained that the allegations in the Auditor-General’s report should not be dismissed as mere administrative lapses, given that public funds meant for social protection may have been lost, misspent or left unaccounted for.
The suit was filed on SERAP’s behalf by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, under Article 9(4) of the ECOWAS Court Protocol.
No date has been fixed for hearing.
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