By Paul Joseph
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has initiated legal action against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly failing to account for ₦3 trillion in public funds, which includes over ₦629 billion disbursed to “unknown beneficiaries” through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
In a statement issued on Sunday, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, noted that the lawsuit was prompted by findings in the Auditor-General’s latest annual report.
The case, filed last week at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeks a court order to compel the CBN to account for and clarify the status of the missing or misappropriated ₦3 trillion, along with detailed reports on how the funds were utilized.
The case, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/250/2026, was submitted on behalf of SERAP by attorneys Oluwakemi Agunbiade and Valentina Adegoke.
The statement highlighted that the Auditor-General reported that in 2022, the CBN failed to transfer over ₦1 trillion (₦1,445,593,400,000.00) of the Federal Government’s operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.
The Auditor-General expressed concern that the funds may have been “diverted” and called for their recovery and return to the treasury.
Additionally, the CBN did not recover over ₦629 billion (₦629,040,000,000.00) allocated to “unknown beneficiaries” as part of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which was intended to assist farmers in achieving sustainable food production in the country.
However, the identities of the beneficiaries who received the funds remain unknown, and the CBN has not taken steps to recover this money.
The Auditor-General warned that this situation could have contributed to challenges in maintaining food security in the nation.
The organization also raised concerns about questionable spending by the CBN, including ₦125 billion on intervention activities that allegedly lacked National Assembly approval, ₦1.79 billion spent on purchasing 43 vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) without proper procurement documentation, and over ₦189 billion in contracts with irregular variations exceeding ₦9 billion.
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