Nigeria is facing a growing list of unresolved questions over public funds, with audit findings, disputed accounts, unrecovered loans and alleged financial irregularities running into trillions of naira across major government institutions.
The cases involve the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Police Force, federal payroll system and other agencies. But the figures do not all represent proven theft: some are audit discrepancies, some are alleged losses or diversions, while others involve loans or expenditures that authorities have been asked to reconcile.
One of the biggest issues concerns spending outside Nigeria’s formal budget process. In its June 9, 2026 Article IV report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said an estimated statistical discrepancy equivalent to 2.7% of GDP in 2025 could reflect spending not captured by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. The IMF also said some expenditures executed outside the budget were subsequently incorporated through the 2025 budget repeal and re-enactment process. The figure has been reported at about ₦8.83 trillion.
The IMF called for stronger budget processes, fiscal reporting, transparency and accountability. The issue, however, is not proof that ₦8.83 trillion was stolen or disappeared; it concerns spending and reporting outside the normal budget framework.
The oil sector has an even larger accounting dispute. In July 2026, the Senate Public Accounts Committee demanded explanations for about ₦210 trillion recorded in NNPCL’s audited financial statements, comprising roughly ₦107 trillion in receivables and ₦103 trillion in payables or accrued expenses. The committee said the figures had not been satisfactorily reconciled.
SERAP subsequently sued NNPCL over the issue, referring to about ₦211 trillion recorded as “Sundry Receivables” and “Accrued Expenses” in the company’s 2023 financial statements. The organisation wants the company to account for the figures.
The CBN is facing another major accountability demand. In a letter dated September 26, 2026, SERAP gave CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso and the apex bank seven days to account for $6.23 million allegedly spent on election funding and more than ₦1.63 trillion in other public funds identified in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2023 report, published on August 7, 2026.
According to SERAP, the ₦1.63 trillion includes ₦1.25 trillion in unrecovered CBN intervention loans to state governments, ₦116.18 billion in unrecovered loans to distressed and liquidated banks, and ₦262.86 billion disbursed under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. SERAP is also demanding details of beneficiaries, utilisation and recovery efforts.
The $6.23 million relates to a transaction dating to the 2023 general elections. PUNCH reported on September 28, 2026 that a CBN official had previously testified that the money was released in cash for international election observers based on documents purportedly bearing the approvals of former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha and former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. Mustapha later told the court that neither he nor Buhari authorised the payment and alleged that their signatures had been forged.
The police and Federal Ministry of Police Affairs are also facing audit questions. In a letter dated August 1, 2026, SERAP asked President Bola Tinubu to investigate more than ₦6.79 billion in alleged diversion, misapplication or unaccounted public funds identified in the Auditor-General’s report. The findings cited payments for projects allegedly not executed, abandoned contracts, inflated contract costs, irregular procurement and unretired cash advances.
The same audit findings raised questions over missing firearms and ammunition. PUNCH reported on August 3, 2026 that SERAP cited 42 firearms and 737 rounds of ammunition booked into the FCT Police Command armoury that were allegedly never returned, alongside concerns over the handling and documentation of police exhibits.
On the federal payroll, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced on July 18, 2026 that it had secured the final forfeiture of ₦941,994,079.86 linked to an investigation into suspected fraud involving the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The accountability questions extend to the Universal Service Provision Fund. On May 11, 2026, SERAP asked the Federal Government to investigate alleged irregularities involving ₦26.9 billion from the fund, citing findings contained in the Auditor-General’s 2022 audited report published on September 9, 2025.
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai is facing a separate ICPC prosecution. The commission said on March 25, 2026 that El-Rufai and one other defendant were arraigned on a 10-count charge involving alleged abuse of office, money laundering and fraud, including allegations involving ₦579.6 million and $1.1 million. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The cases show the breadth of Nigeria’s public-finance accountability problem, but they also show why the figures must be treated carefully. An audit query is not automatically evidence of theft, an unrecovered loan is not necessarily a loss, and an allegation remains an allegation until established through investigation or the courts.
For Nigeria’s public institutions, the immediate accountability test is whether disputed figures can be reconciled, public funds recovered where losses are established, and those responsible for proven wrongdoing held to account.
