SERAP Gives CBN 7 Days To Account For N3trn, Threatens Lawsuit

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has issued a seven-day deadline to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, demanding a full explanation for what it described as the “missing or diverted N3 trillion of public funds” flagged in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2022 annual report.

SERAP said the allegations, published on September 9, 2025, point to serious breaches of financial regulations and constitutional provisions.

The organisation urged Cardoso to reveal those responsible for the alleged diversion of funds, hand them over to anti-graft agencies and ensure the recovery of every mismanaged fund.

According to a letter dated November 15 and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said the issues raised by the Auditor-General “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”

It also cautioned that the alleged financial breaches have eroded public trust in the apex bank.

“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” the group wrote.

According to SERAP’s breakdown of the audit findings, the Auditor-General queried the non-remittance of more than N1.4 trillion in operating surplus, the failure to recover N629 billion paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of N784 billion in overdue intervention loans.

One of the sections of the Auditor-General’s report cited by SERAP noted that the CBN “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 report also raised red flags about the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, stating that “the number of beneficiaries who collected the money is unknown.”

The Auditor-General also questioned the bank’s intervention spending, revealing that the CBN spent “over N125 billion (N125,374,000,000.00) ‘on questionable intervention activities without supporting documentation.

SERAP reminded CBN of its constitutional duties and insisted that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”

The civil society organisation warned that it would take legal action if the apex bank failed to respond to its demand within the seven-day deadline.