Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to constitute an independent team of experts to trace ₦33.75 billion reportedly transferred to 3.29 million vulnerable Nigerian households under the Federal Government’s social intervention programme.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the move followed concerns raised by the Auditor-General for the Federation over the government’s inability to provide sufficient records to verify the beneficiaries of the payments.
The former Vice President described the audit findings as a serious indictment of the government’s social intervention programme, arguing that Nigerians were already struggling with higher living costs following the removal of fuel subsidy and increases in taxes, tariffs, transportation and electricity costs.
According to Atiku, the ₦33.75 billion divided among 3.29 million households amounts to approximately ₦10,258 per household.
He questioned the adequacy of the intervention, saying the government’s inability to properly account for even the limited financial assistance raised further concerns.
“This is beyond a bookkeeping scandal. The intervention is insultingly small, yet even that small amount cannot be cleanly accounted for,” Atiku said.
He commended the Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, for raising the queries, saying the audit findings demonstrated the importance of public institutions carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.
“That is what institutions are supposed to do — protect the public purse, not the political comfort of those in power,” he said.
Atiku also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in government figures concerning the number of households that benefited from the intervention programme.
He noted that the government had previously announced that more than ₦600 billion had been disbursed to over 10 million households, while Nigerians had earlier been told that about 15 million households were beneficiaries.
“It now appears that the Tinubu administration cannot give Nigerians a coherent account of how many households actually benefited from its intervention programme, while significant portions of the expenditure have failed to withstand independent audit scrutiny,” he said.
Atiku further cited other findings contained in the audit report, including ₦36.74 billion in payments reportedly made without the required pre-payment audit and ₦4.62 billion for which corresponding payment vouchers were not produced for examination.
He said the issues should not be dismissed as mere accounting discrepancies because the funds were appropriated for vulnerable Nigerians.
To independently examine the matter, Atiku said he would constitute a team comprising financial, audit, technology and public-accounting experts.
“My team will constitute an independent group of financial, audit, technology and public-accounting experts to interrogate the available records surrounding these cash-transfer payments. We will follow the money as far as the available public and institutional records permit,” he said.
He said the team would examine beneficiary figures, payment channels, reconciliation records, audit queries and other inconsistencies identified in the transactions.
According to Atiku, the objective would be to establish whether the funds reached their intended beneficiaries and identify any gaps in the payment process.
“There must be no black box around the poor man’s money. If Remita processed these transactions, the relevant records should be available for scrutiny. If beneficiaries received the money, there should be evidence,” he said.
Atiku also demanded an explanation for the reported difficulties auditors encountered while attempting to access records required to verify the payments.
“If access to records was obstructed, Nigerians deserve to know by whom and why,” he added.
The ADC candidate argued that Nigerians needed sustainable economic relief rather than repeated palliative announcements.
He said his proposed economic approach would focus on increasing domestic production, supporting local refining, reducing energy costs and improving purchasing power.
“Our intervention will follow production. It will support domestic refining, increase local supply, reduce the cost of energy and ensure that the benefit reaches Nigerians through lower prices,” Atiku said.
He maintained that if the beneficiaries of the ₦33.75 billion payments were genuine, the government should publish verifiable evidence of the payment trail.
“If the money did not reach them, it should be recovered,” he said.
Atiku further called for prosecution of any official found, after proper investigation, to have diverted, misapplied or misappropriated funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians.
The audit findings cited by Atiku are allegations and audit observations requiring explanations and supporting documentation; they do not, by themselves, establish that the funds were stolen or diverted.
