The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly failing to account for $6.23 million in election funds and over ₦1.63 trillion in other public funds. This lawsuit follows allegations made in Volume II of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2023 Annual Report, released on August 7, 2026. The report highlights issues from January to December 2023.
The missing funds include $6.23 million related to a suspected fraudulent request for election funding supposedly made by former President Muhammadu Buhari. Additionally, over ₦1.25 trillion in unrecovered loans from the CBN to state governments, ₦116.18 billion given to failing banks, and ₦262.86 billion allocated under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme are also unaccounted for.
In the lawsuit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/2450/2026, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to force the CBN to account for the missing funds. The organization also wants the CBN to reveal details about the purposes of these funds, who benefited from them, their repayment status, recovery efforts, and results from the CBN’s internal investigation into the alleged election funding fraud.
SERAP argues that the accountability of public institutions, including the CBN, is essential to Nigeria’s constitutional democracy. The organization states that the allegations made by the Auditor-General indicate serious violations of public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, national anti-corruption laws, and Nigeria’s commitments under the UN Convention against Corruption.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, the CBN did not investigate a reported fraud at its Abuja Branch Office that amounted to over $6.2 million. The internal audit of the CBN revealed that this money was spent based on a request for election funding supposedly made by Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari. However, the CBN did not provide the investigation report about the alleged fraud to the audit team for review and confirmation.
The CBN also did not retrieve over ₦1.2 trillion in loans given to various states as part of ‘CBN intervention loans’ in 2023. The Auditor-General is concerned that this money may have been ‘used for personal reasons’ and suggests it should be recovered and returned to the treasury. Furthermore, the CBN did not collect over ₦116 billion from loans given to struggling and closed banks.
The lawsuit seeks to compel the CBN to identify officials responsible for approving and distributing the public funds and to reveal any disciplinary or administrative actions taken. SERAP also requests that the CBN share records about seven boxes of currency notes pending examination and abandoned vehicles at its Lagos branch and bullion vans at its Abeokuta branch.
Key points
- The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has initiated a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly failing to account for $6.23 million and ₦1.63 trillion in public funds.
- The lawsuit seeks to compel the CBN to account for the missing funds and identify officials responsible for approving and distributing the public funds.
- The allegations made by the Auditor-General indicate serious violations of public trust and national anti-corruption laws.
