Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to launch an independent probe into the reported ₦33.75 billion cash transfer meant for 3.29 million vulnerable Nigerian households.
Atiku said the reported discrepancies surrounding the funds raise serious questions about the government’s handling of money appropriated to cushion the impact of the economic hardship facing millions of Nigerians.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said he would assemble financial, audit, technology and public-accounting experts to trace the funds and establish whether they actually reached the intended beneficiaries.
The former vice president said the figures were troubling, noting that ₦33.75 billion shared among 3.29 million households amounts to only about ₦10,258 per household.
He questioned how the government could justify such a modest intervention while Nigerians continue to face higher transportation, food, electricity and energy costs.
“This is beyond a bookkeeping scandal. The intervention is insultingly small, yet even that small amount cannot be cleanly accounted for,” Atiku said.
He said the matter becomes more disturbing because of reported questions over another ₦36.74 billion allegedly paid without pre-payment audits and ₦4.62 billion for which payment vouchers were reportedly not produced.
Atiku also challenged the government’s changing figures on the number of households said to have benefited from the cash-transfer programme.
According to him, Nigerians were initially told that about 15 million households were covered, while the government later claimed that more than 10 million households had received over ₦600 billion.
“It now appears that the Tinubu administration cannot give Nigerians a coherent account of how many households actually benefited from its intervention programme,” he said.
Atiku argued that the government should not be allowed to investigate itself over funds whose management is already being questioned.
He said his proposed independent team would examine beneficiary records, payment channels, reconciliation documents, audit queries and other relevant records.
“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.
Atiku also demanded transparency from government agencies involved in the payments.
“If Remita processed these transactions, the relevant records should be available for scrutiny. If beneficiaries received the money, there should be evidence. If access to records was obstructed, Nigerians deserve to know by whom and why,” he said.
He commended the Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, for raising questions over the reported expenditure, saying public institutions must prioritise accountability and protection of public funds.
The ADC candidate said Nigerians deserved more than another round of palliative announcements, arguing that government policies should instead focus on lowering the cost of transportation, food and energy.
He further demanded the publication of verifiable payment trails and recovery of any funds that did not reach genuine beneficiaries.
Atiku said any official found to have diverted, misapplied or misappropriated funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians should be prosecuted.
“The poor have already paid enough through higher fuel prices, food costs, electricity bills, transportation fares and taxes. They must not also be made to lose the money appropriated in their name,” he said.