The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its alleged failure to account for N3 trillion in public funds, including more than N629 billion paid to “unknown beneficiaries”under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the suit followed allegations detailed in the latest annual report by the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on September 9, 2025.
Filed last week at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel the CBN to account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing or diverted N3 trillion, including detailed reports of how the funds were spent.”
The suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/250/2026 was filed on behalf of SERAP by lawyers Oluwakemi Agunbiade and Valentina Adegoke.
“According to the Auditor-General, the CBN in 2022 failed to remit over N1 trillion (N1,445,593,400,000.00) of ‘the Federal government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account,” the statement read in part.
“The Auditor-General fears that the money may have been ‘diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“The CBN also failed to recover over N629 billion (N629,040,000,000.00) paid to ‘unknown beneficiaries’ as part of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, a programme ‘meant to support farmers to ensure sustainable food production in the country.’
“But ‘the number of beneficiaries who collected the money is unknown.’ The CBN has also failed to ‘recover the money.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted’, which could have ‘contributed to the difficulty in sustaining food security in the nation.’”
The group further alleged questionable expenditures by the CBN, including N125 billion on intervention activities allegedly lacking National Assembly approval, N1.79 billion spent to buy 43 vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) without procurement records, and over N189 billion awarded in contracts with irregular variations of over N9 billion.
