The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Federal Government before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the alleged diversion and failure to account for over ₦78.8 billion in public funds.

The lawsuit, registered as suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/42/26, centers on serious financial irregularities highlighted in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report published on August 7, 2026.

The findings flag expenditures managed between January 2023 and December 2024 by key social protection bodies, including the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).

According to the Auditor-General’s report, the questioned sums involve approximately ₦33.75 billion transferred across 35 states without adequate beneficiary verification records, alongside ₦36.74 billion disbursed without prepayment audits. Additional questionable entries include ₦4.61 billion in unsupported expenditures, millions in unverified store purchases, and diesel advances. These funds were originally earmarked to cushion over 3.2 million vulnerable households against severe economic hardship.

Filing the public-interest suit on behalf of SERAP, lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi argued that the government’s failure to investigate and address these financial anomalies constitutes a direct violation of Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.

SERAP argued that mismanaging social protection resources undermines the fundamental rights of millions of citizens to social security, an adequate standard of living, and freedom from discrimination under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The human rights organization is asking the regional court to declare the government’s inaction unlawful and to issue a perpetual injunction restraining authorities from disbursing future welfare funds without strict financial oversight, transparency, and beneficiary verification.

SERAP is also seeking mandatory court orders directing the federal government to provide a comprehensive, verifiable account of the disputed funds, conduct an independent probe, prosecute established wrongdoers, recover diverted monies, and reinforce institutional safeguards to protect vulnerable populations.

No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suit.