RismadarVoice Reporters
September 5, 2026
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has pledged to set up an independent panel of experts to investigate the disbursement of ₦33.75 billion reportedly paid to 3.29 million vulnerable Nigerian households.
Atiku pledged in a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following concerns raised in an audit report over whether the funds reached the intended beneficiaries.
According to the statement, Atiku said the audit findings raised serious questions about the management of funds meant to cushion the impact of economic hardship on vulnerable Nigerians.
He argued that the amount reportedly distributed to the 3.29 million households translated to approximately ₦10,258 per household.
Atiku criticised the government’s economic policies, saying Nigerians had faced higher costs of transportation, electricity and food following the removal of fuel subsidy, while the intervention programme designed to provide relief was now facing questions over accountability.
“This is beyond a bookkeeping scandal. The intervention is insultingly small, yet even that small amount cannot be cleanly accounted for,” Atiku was quoted as saying.
He commended the Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, whom the statement said was appointed by the Tinubu administration in October 2023, for raising concerns over the expenditure.
Atiku also questioned discrepancies in government figures concerning the number of households that benefited from the cash-transfer programme.
He noted that the government had previously claimed that more than ₦600 billion was distributed to over 10 million households, while an earlier figure of about 15 million households had also been cited.
The ADC candidate said the conflicting figures made it difficult for Nigerians to establish the actual number of beneficiaries and the amount ultimately disbursed.
He further cited audit concerns over ₦33.75 billion reportedly paid to 3.29 million beneficiaries, ₦36.74 billion allegedly disbursed without pre-payment audit and another ₦4.62 billion for which payment vouchers were reportedly unavailable.
Atiku said the figures warranted further investigation because the funds were appropriated in the name of Nigerians facing economic hardship.
Explaining his decision to launch an independent review, he said it would be inappropriate to expect the same government whose spending was being questioned to investigate itself.
“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,” Atiku said.
He added that the proposed team would examine beneficiary records, payment channels, reconciliation documents, audit queries and other discrepancies surrounding the transactions.
Atiku said the investigation would also establish whether there was verifiable evidence that the reported beneficiaries received the funds.
He argued that records of transactions processed through payment platforms should be made available for scrutiny and that any obstruction of access to such records should also be investigated.
Beyond cash transfers, Atiku said Nigerians needed policies capable of improving their purchasing power and reducing the daily cost of transportation, food and energy.
He said his proposed economic approach would focus on increasing domestic production, supporting local refining and expanding energy supply in order to reduce costs.
According to him, lower energy costs would help reduce transportation expenses and ease pressure on food prices and household budgets.
Atiku further accused the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic burden on Nigerians while failing to provide sufficient accountability for interventions intended to cushion the effects of those policies.
He called on the government to publish verifiable payment records if the beneficiaries were genuine and recover any funds that were not properly disbursed.
The former vice president also said any official found, after investigation, to have diverted, misapplied or misappropriated funds intended for vulnerable Nigerians should face prosecution.
