The African Democratic Congress has called for an independent investigation into N33.75 billion reportedly disbursed through the Federal Government’s National Cash Transfer Programme after the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation raised concerns over the inability to verify the beneficiaries.
The party also demanded the immediate release of the identities of those who received the funds, saying Nigerians should be allowed to establish whether the money meant for vulnerable households actually reached the intended beneficiaries.
The Auditor-General, in its 2024 annual report on non-compliance and internal control weaknesses in federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, disclosed that electronic payments totalling N33.751 billion were made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023.
However, the audit report said the National Cash Transfer Office was unable to provide a Remita transaction statement containing details of the recipients.
According to the report, the absence of the payment statement made it impossible for auditors to effectively verify the transactions or establish whether the beneficiaries captured in the programme were genuine.
The auditors further alleged that efforts to obtain the Remita statement were frustrated by officials in the accounts section of the National Cash Transfer Office.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the findings as disturbing and indicative of possible systemic abuse in the management of social intervention funds.
Abdullahi alleged that the cash transfer programme had become an avenue for diverting public resources meant to cushion the impact of economic hardship on poor Nigerians.
He said the N33.75 billion flagged by the Auditor-General should be subjected to a full-scale investigation rather than dismissed as an administrative or accounting lapse.
The ADC spokesman argued that the latest revelation should also be examined against previous controversies involving the management of the country’s social investment programmes.
He referred to the N585 million controversy involving a payment allegedly made to a private account during the tenure of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.
He also recalled allegations surrounding N44 billion reportedly missing from the National Social Investment Programme Agency during the tenure of its former national coordinator, Halima Shehu.
Abdullahi said the concerns raised by the Auditor-General were coming at a particularly troubling time, given the worsening economic pressure on households across the country.
He questioned the rationale for introducing another $1 billion social protection programme while questions over the administration and accountability of previous cash-transfer schemes remained unresolved.
The ADC spokesman said the government’s social intervention programmes would only command public confidence if beneficiary records, payment details and other relevant documents were made available for independent verification.
He therefore urged the authorities to publish the complete register of beneficiaries of the N33.751 billion payment and release the corresponding Remita records.
He also called for an investigation into the alleged obstruction of auditors by officials of the National Cash Transfer Office.
According to him, the probe must determine who received the money, whether the payments reached genuine beneficiaries and whether any portion of the funds was diverted.
The ADC maintained that accountability was particularly important in social protection programmes because the funds were intended for Nigerians facing severe economic hardship.
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