The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding full accountability for an alleged N3 trillion in missing or diverted public funds.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/250/2026, was filed last week and seeks a court order of mandamus to compel the CBN to explain the whereabouts of the funds and provide detailed reports on their expenditure.
This action stems from serious findings in the Auditor-General of the Federation's latest annual report, published on September 9, 2025.
Key allegations highlighted in the suit include:
The CBN's failure in 2022 to remit over N1 trillion (specifically N1,445,593,400,000) of the Federal Government's portion of operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account, with concerns that the money may have been diverted.
Failure to recover more than N629 billion (N629,040,000,000) disbursed to "unknown beneficiaries" under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, originally intended to support farmers and promote sustainable food production.
SERAP argues that these issues represent grave violations of public trust, the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended), the CBN Act, and anti-corruption standards.
The group contends that the CBN's persistent lack of transparency and accountability has undermined its ability to perform statutory functions and eroded public confidence in the institution.
The lawsuit was filed by SERAP lawyers Oluwakemi Agunbiade and Valentina Adegoke. No hearing date has been scheduled yet.
In a related anti-corruption development, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe alleged financial mismanagement at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oluwaseun Mayomi Faleye.
The petition, signed by HEDA Chairman Olanrewaju Suraju and addressed to EFCC Chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede, calls for a prompt, impartial investigation into claims of abuse of office, financial misconduct, and possible misappropriation of public funds.
It references an investigative report published on February 9, 2026, alleging that Faleye granted himself unlimited approval authority over funds totaling about N297 billion and managed over 100 bank accounts tied to a single Bank Verification Number (BVN).
HEDA has urged the EFCC to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of NSITF's accounts, transactions, procurement records, board approvals, and disbursements.
The group emphasized that identifying any wrongdoing and pursuing prosecution or asset recovery would help restore trust in the management of social insurance funds and bolster accountability in public institutions.
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