The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has launched a blistering attack on the administration of President Bola Tinubu over the Auditor-General’s report that N33.75 billion in cash transfers to 3.29 million households could not be matched to verified beneficiaries.
The opposition party alleged that the development was evidence of corruption in the government’s social intervention programmes, accusing officials of exploiting schemes designed to support poor Nigerians.
In a statement on Monday, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the alleged financial irregularities as an “organised racket” allegedly operating under the guise of helping vulnerable Nigerians.
“Let us call this what it is. Not mismanagement. Not an oversight. It is an organised racket, which this government has run under the guise of a social intervention programme,” Abdullahi said.
“They are stealing from the poor and telling them to continue to endure hardship.”
The ADC recalled previous controversies surrounding the National Social Investment Programme, including the reported transfer of N585 million to a private account linked to former Humanitarian Affairs Minister Betta Edu and allegations involving N44 billion under the former National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu.
The party said the latest Auditor-General’s finding had deepened concerns about the management of funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians.
“At the time, the government made a show of suspending her. Now she is back in the President’s campaign council,” the ADC said.
It argued that the latest report involving N33.75 billion, allegedly buried within a larger N78 billion intervention fund, reinforced what it called a “historical pattern of corruption” surrounding social investment programmes.
The opposition party further attacked the Federal Government’s plan to roll out a new $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme, saying the administration had failed to demonstrate that adequate safeguards had been introduced to prevent a repeat of previous controversies.
“Barely weeks before this audit blew up in their faces, they wheeled out a new $1 billion so-called ‘Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme’ with the usual State House fanfare,” Abdullahi said.
“Given the familiar history, we are in no doubt that even in the unlikely event that this latest intervention is ever implemented, it would end up like the others before it: another racket.”
The ADC also blamed the economic policies of the Tinubu administration for worsening the conditions that have made millions of Nigerians dependent on government interventions.
According to the party, the removal of fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira have contributed to a surge in the number of Nigerians facing extreme poverty.
“Their twin disastrous policies of fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation have exploded the population of Nigerians living in extreme poverty and therefore needing cash handouts from the government,” the party said.
The ADC alleged that the government had effectively created hardship through its economic policies while failing to properly account for funds intended to cushion the impact.
“This is a government that manufactured hardship with one hand and pocketed the relief with the other,” Abdullahi said.
“Fuel prices up. Transport costs up. Food prices up. And the one programme meant to soften the blow turns out to be a black hole. Enough is enough.”
The party demanded an immediate investigation into the social intervention scheme and called for the publication of the full beneficiary register, REMITA payment trail and names of every official who allegedly obstructed the Auditor-General’s work.
The ADC said Nigerians had a right to know who received the funds and how the money was disbursed, insisting that public resources meant for the poorest citizens must not disappear without trace.
