• Wants full probe into alleged unverifiable payments to 3.29m households
• Demands publication of beneficiary register, REMITA trail
• Questions fresh $1bn social protection programme
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has demanded a comprehensive investigation into the Federal Government’s cash-transfer programme following an Auditor-General’s finding that N33.75 billion reportedly disbursed to 3.29 million households could not be verified against identifiable beneficiaries.
The opposition party also called for the immediate publication of the full beneficiary register, REMITA payment records and details of officials involved in the administration of the funds.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the demands in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, saying the audit finding had raised serious questions about transparency and accountability in the government’s social intervention programmes under President Bola Tinubu.
The party alleged that the development was part of a pattern of controversies surrounding the management of social intervention funds since the beginning of the Tinubu administration.
“Let us call this what it is. Not mismanagement. Not an oversight. It is an organised racket,” the party said, alleging that the social intervention programme had been administered in a manner that disadvantaged poor Nigerians.
ADC recalled previous controversies, including the reported transfer of N585 million to a private account under former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, as well as the reported N44 billion controversy involving the National Social Investment Programme Agency under Halima Shehu.
The party said the latest Auditor-General’s finding required the government to provide Nigerians with clear evidence of how the N33.75 billion was disbursed and the identities of the ultimate beneficiaries.
According to ADC, the N33.75 billion reportedly formed part of a larger N78 billion intervention fund, making full disclosure necessary.
The party also questioned the Federal Government’s announcement of a new $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme, arguing that the government should first strengthen transparency and accountability mechanisms before committing additional resources to social intervention schemes.
“Barely weeks before this audit blew up in their faces, they wheeled out a new $1 billion so-called ‘Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme’ with the usual State House fanfare,” ADC said.
The opposition party further linked the growing reliance on social interventions to economic pressures arising from rising living costs, particularly following the removal of fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira.
ADC argued that increased fuel, transportation and food prices had worsened economic hardship for millions of Nigerians and heightened the need for effective and transparent government support programmes.
“Their twin disastrous policies of fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation have exploded the population of Nigerians living in extreme poverty and therefore needing cash handouts from the government,” the party said.
The ADC alleged that the government had failed to adequately shield vulnerable citizens from rising living costs, while expressing concern over the management of funds meant to provide relief.
It therefore demanded a full investigation into the cash-transfer programme and urged the government to make all relevant records available to the public.
Specifically, the party called for the publication of the complete beneficiary register, REMITA payment trail and names of officials who allegedly obstructed the Auditor-General’s verification exercise.
ADC said the disclosures would enable Nigerians to determine whether the funds reached their intended beneficiaries and help restore public confidence in the country’s social protection programmes.
The party maintained that social intervention funds must be transparently managed and targeted at vulnerable Nigerians, particularly as households continue to grapple with economic pressures.
