Mohammed Sambo Dasuki,Nigeria's National Security Adviser on Monday at the ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York, unveiled Nigeria's new approach to countering and dismantling violent extremism in Nigeria.
The Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, according to Dasuki, is aimed at identifying the underlying causes of radicalization (Social, Cultural, Religious, and Economic) and to develop strategies to solve the problem.
In his words, “advancements that have come with modernity such as technology and science have opened up the world in ways that our ancestors could not imagine. But with these advances have also come existential threats, which require us to come up with innovative solutions. As our world becomes smaller, problems are no longer isolated by region, state or even neighbourhood, the same technology that allows us to communicate with relatives thousands of miles away, and to witness events unfolding in distant shores as they happen, is also used to transport extreme ideas that entice youths to pick up arms against their country and fellow citizens, and in some cases abandon their homes to help others fight a war in a distant land.”
“Nation’s that have been directly affected by terrorism whether it is the IRA in Britain, or the FARC rebels in Columbia, or ETA in Spain and more recently IS in Iraq have shown us how difficult it is to eradicate. The terrorist lacks neither imagination nor capacity for evil, they operate outside of the bounds of conventional morality, while states must be guided in their responses by rules, the law, their own values and respect for civilian lives and property.”
“It is my belief that any response to terrorism must be long term, holistic and robust enough to address its root causes. A military approach can only be part of a solution, more importantly states must begin by understanding the causes of youth anomie, disillusionment, need for adventure and search for meaning that is at the heart of a lot of radicalization narratives, while also addressing more structural societal defects that make it difficult for some youth to access jobs, education or social security. While there is no defined pathway to terrorism, poverty, lack of opportunities for self actualization for youth, political and social marginalization, poor understanding of religion, the pull of a charismatic leader all play a role.”
“Before I outline Nigeria’s attempt to address these issues, I will just like to take a minute to explain the threat we face.”
"The current threat we face is mainly from a radicalized and fundamentalist Islamic group, the Jama’atul ahlul Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as the Boko Haram sect which emerged in Borno State North Eastern Nigeria in 2000. The group was founded by the late Mohammed Ali who moved to Kanamma, a small settlement in Yobe State, close to the border with Niger Republic in 2003 at a base dubbed ‘Afghanistan’. The movement then known as the ‘The Nigerian Taliban’ targeted the Police and other security agencies sourcing for weapons, creating fear and a sense of insecurity in the locals. This group was initially contained by the security forces but later metamorphosed into the Boko Haram Sect under the leadership of a very charismatic young man known as Mohammed Yusuf."
"Today, Boko Haram, is seeking to impose an extreme violent Salafist Sharia legal system in the North while holding strong abhorrence for Western ideas. Under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, the profile of the sect continued to assume martyrdom status. In the past few years the group has targeted both Muslims and Christians, killing more than 10,000 civilians including women and children. The group has kidnapped hundreds of people, including the more than 200 young girls taken from their school in Chibok as they sat for their final year exams."
"In the last two years, Nigeria has had to innovate to meet the challenges posed by this deadly group. We have worked very hard to develop a National CVE Program which was unveiled on March 18th, 2014. The National CVE Program is the soft approach identified by the prevent strand of Nigeria’s Counter Terrorism Strategy. This aspect of our counter terrorism approach seeks to raise awareness of the threat of violent extremism, as well as shape policy and programming. While we have studied different CVE models around the globe we understood that we had to answer tough questions that are specific to our particular situation in countering violent extremism and it is with this in mind that we developed what we believe is a four pronged approach that encompasses peace, security and development. It is a totally non military approach that involves actors, within and out of government, civil society as well as religious institutions."
"Our CVE Programme is both vertical; involving three tiers of government, federal, state and local, and horizontal; involving civil society, academics, traditional, religious and community leaders. It consists of four streams with different layers of partners: ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s), including the civil society. Rather than creating new structures that will not be sustainable in the long run, the program utilizes existing structures within and outside government to deliver targeted programs and activities that further the overall goal of stemming the tide of radicalization. This, in our view, will ensure the institutionalization of the programme and guarantee sustainability.”
De-radicalization- we have developed a three pronged program involving the following:
- Convicted terrorist offenders
- Terror suspects waiting trial
- An aftercare program for suspects released from custody and those who voluntarily renounce terrorism.
The de radicalization program involves the training of a new generation of practitioners in the areas of forensic psychology, religious instruction with particular emphasis on extremist narratives, art therapists, social workers and vocational and educational counselors. The government of Nigeria is refurbishing a number of prisons that are being configured specifically for this program.
- The aftercare program is community based designed to aid in the rehabilitation and reintegration of former extremists and will involve a host of civil society organizations.
We have identified and are training a multi-disciplinary prison based treatment team to manage terror suspects. This team is responsible for developing curriculum and training in religious education, cognitive behavior therapy, anger management, relapse prevention, empathy, risk management and risk assessment. Additionally Imams are being trained on dealing with ideologically driven conflict. By implementing this stream, we expect to achieve the following objectives;
a. Foster greater respect for human rights and rule of law.
b. Train relevant prison staff on CVE, to professionally handle terror suspects and issues of rehabilitation.
- c. Develop a range of expert psychologists and counsellors to pioneer rehabilitation efforts
- d. Introduce a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation of prisoners in the country, using in-depth psychological analysis and research to understand the root causes of extremism and other criminal ideologies.
- e. Utilize religious scholars to counter extremist narratives by training them on aspects of dialogue and counseling.
- f. Offer vocational training for inmates ensuring they have a basic level of education and skills to assist their reintegration into society.
- g. Institutionalize rehabilitation of suspected terrorists within the prison system.
Strategic Communication seeks to produce counter-narratives, by presenting moderate views as a stark contrast to violent extremism and promoting core national values. Through Strategic Communications we are working to counter extremist ideology and narratives. Extremists’ views are often based on ignorance, misconceptions, willful misinterpretation and twisted ideology. In the case of Boko Haram, narratives are founded on a set of core beliefs that are opposed to the state and aspects of western education. Our response targets those that hold radical views, without necessarily being violent, and the population at large; aiming to further diminish tolerance for extremist rhetoric. Media content for TV, radio and the internet is being developed in order to raise public awareness of the illegitimate claims of the terrorists.
Our Strategic Communications approach engages the press to ensure that reporting of terrorists’ activities are done responsibly. A voluntary code of conduct on reporting national security issues is being developed that will regulate crisis reporting especially with regard to terrorism. Furthermore we are creating a rapid response media team that will promptly address extremist messages in print or electronic media .
We are currently in the process of strengthening our public diplomacy efforts through the institutionalization of strategic communication capabilities across the civil service. We have begun this effort by training small groups of civil servants, with the aim of reaching over 500 over a two year period across 22 government agencies. This training is being carried out through the Public Service Institute of Nigeria. A parallel program is being developed and institutionalized through the Nigerian Defence Academy. It is envisioned that this will provide long term strategic communication capabilities for our armed forces.
Additionally we are developing messaging desks for the production of counter- narratives (This includes the production of a Website, CDs, Books, TV and Radio programs) including messages targeting youth at risk of radicalization.
In order to further our understanding of Boko Haram we have commissioned a documentary on Boko Haram and research on the Pathways to Radicalization
Accordingly, it is expected that by implementing this stream working closely with various organisations such as media-based NGOs, religious groups and government organisations at all levels the following would be achieved;
a. Government will be equipped with the capacity to manage its strategic communications network.
b. A comprehensive public relations strategy across all government agencies will be mainstreamed and harmonized with the ultimate objective of creating a one-voice information platform.
c. Credible voices on various platforms addressing national identity, tolerance and community resilience will be amplified while providing support and protection for those that speak out against violent extremism.
Counter Radicalization focuses on community engagement and education-based projects. It is designed to stem the flow of recruits and reduce the potential for radicalization. The Society Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) Project created in my office is responsible for this stream. Its entire focus is preventive and involves a whole of society approach. In this regard, the SAVE Project has the following objectives;
- a. Countering the drivers of radicalization
- b. Encouraging CVE action in communities, civil society and government institutions
- c. Building community engagement and resilience
- d. Using education as a tool for countering violent extremism
- e. Promoting religious tolerance.
In order to achieve the above objectives, key projects have been designed to do the following:
a. Ensure that education is used as a tool to stem extremism by emphasizing the teaching of critical thinking and logical reasoning as well as sports, music, arts, and drama. We believe that these will serve as buffers to imbibing a single compelling narrative,
b. Create psychological support structures for victims of terrorism through the main stream provision of PTSD.
We have conducted extensive assessments of schools across Northern Nigeria in order to gain a better understanding of the state of education. We have now begun preliminary consultations with the Ministry of Education with regard to potential changes to the national curriculum and will be hosting an Education Summit, bringing together key stakeholders and policy-makers. Additionally we are working on providing continuing education to Internally displaced people as well as those in states where schools have been closed through community radio schools. We already have a fully-operational Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre in Kano and are working to open centres in at least six more states. Additionally we have worked with our National Primary Health Care Development Agency to add the provision of psychological services in particular post traumatic stress disorder therapy (PTSD) to the national mental health policy. Over the next year we will partner with them to train thousands of clinicians that will be deployed nationwide in PTSD.
The SAVE Project has met with various Civil Society Organizations working in diverse fields from all over the country. An initial introductory meeting has already been held and another meeting will be held later this year as a first step towards building a collaborative CVE network of civil society and government. Other projects are beginning to move beyond the conceptual stage and into implementation as partners are being identified and reached out to. We are beginning to make real progress but are aware that these are but the early stages of what must be an extensive and all-encompassing set of interventions.
In the pursuance of these goals and in order to drive these projects at the local level, we are engaging State Technical Assistants and Local Technical Assistants recruited from the areas most affected by terrorism to ensure continuous engagement with the states and Local Governments. They will all be in place by early next year.
Economic Regeneration- Based on our understanding of the economic root causes of terrorism and global best practices in addressing them, we worked with the Governors of six north eastern states of Nigeria in designing an economic revitalization program targeting the states most impacted by terrorism. An inter-ministerial committee consisting of the Ministries of Agriculture, Power, Finance, Works, Water Resources, Health, Education, Transport, Communication, Culture and Tourism, Industry-Trade and Investments, Solid Minerals Development, Science and Technology, Youth Development, and Lands and Housing, along with the National Planning Commission, development partners and my office are currently working with the region under the aegis of the Presidential Initiative for the Northeast (PINE). The activities of PINE include providing support and succor to a large quantum of internally displaced persons in the conflict areas in the form of emergency relief through the provision of food and medicines in designated camps. In this we are closely working with the State Governments.
These four streams have been structured to implement projects and activities that will ensure the achievement of the aims of the CVE programme.
An independent monitoring and evaluation framework has been developed to help guide our work and provide us with feedback on the impact of our efforts.
Closing Remarks
Ladies and Gentlemen, over the past few minutes, I have highlighted the efforts we have made in addressing the issue of terrorism which has led us to design a robust CVE Programme.
No nation has the monopoly of knowledge especially when it comes to dealing with terrorism, so for us today, is a day that we have come to share, but also to learn.
The ultimate success of our program will depend on how closely we work with our partners, communities, local organizations and institutions to ensure that CVE becomes rooted in their daily work practices. We are also clear that regional and international partners will be key to long term solutions to violent extremism and we are grateful to the numerous countries and international organizations that have supported the Nigerian CVE program.
I wish to convey appreciation for the immense support of the international community in our fight with this challenge of terrorism that is global in dimension and heavily local in its destructive impact."
I thank you for listening.
 |
|
Tinubu Meets Bolloré in Paris Over Expanded Investment in Nigeria’s Creative, Digital Economy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held talks with French businessman Vincent Bolloré in Paris on plans to expand investment in Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The meeting, held during the President’s working vacation, focused on opportunities to deepen the localisation of operations by the Bolloré Group and increase investment in sectors including film, entertainment, fibre-optic infrastructure and digital services, according to a statement issued by the presidency.
Bolloré and members of his executive team outlined proposed investments centred on Nigeria, highlighting the country’s growing influence in global entertainment through Nollywood and Afrobeats.
The group also expressed interest in expanding its operations and local presence in Nigeria, with the presidency saying the plans could support increased production, investment and employment opportunities in the country.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s focus on economic growth, job creation and digitalisation, while welcoming the group’s reported plans to deepen its activities in Nigeria.
The President said the government would continue to support investments aimed at developing the creative and digital economy, strengthening infrastructure and creating opportunities for Nigerian talent.
According to the statement, Tinubu also emphasised the potential for Nigeria to serve as a base for companies seeking to operate across Africa and international markets.
The meeting comes as Nigeria continues to promote its entertainment and technology sectors as areas of economic opportunity, with the government seeking to attract investment while expanding employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Tinubu said his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to harness Nigeria’s talent, entrepreneurship and growing global cultural influence to create greater economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
News
Banks Shut 476 Branches as Nigeria’s Banking Landscape Goes Digital
Nigeria’s banks are rapidly abandoning the traditional banking model, shutting down hundreds of branches and cash centres as customers increasingly move to digital and electronic channels.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that banks closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, cutting the country’s physical banking network by 8.8 per cent in just three years.
The number of bank branches and cash centres plunged from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, signalling a dramatic shift away from brick-and-mortar banking.
The contraction has gathered pace in recent years.
Banks closed 37 locations in 2023, followed by a much steeper reduction of 229 locations in 2024. Another 210 branches and cash centres disappeared in 2025.
In effect, more than nine out of every 10 locations lost during the three-year period were closed in 2024 and 2025.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector, cover branches and cash centres operated by commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. The data were sourced from the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Lagos bears the biggest hit Lagos, Nigeria’s financial powerhouse, recorded the largest decline.
The state had 1,602 bank branches and cash centres in 2022. That figure dropped to 1,532 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and just 1,444 in 2025.
That represents a loss of 158 locations, or nearly 10 per cent, in three years.
Despite the closures, Lagos remains overwhelmingly dominant, accounting for almost 29 per cent of all physical banking locations in Nigeria.
The Federal Capital Territory also suffered a significant contraction. Abuja went from 400 locations in 2022 to 362 in 2025, a decline of 38, or 9.5 per cent.
But some states experienced far more dramatic cuts.
Ekiti lost almost half of its banking locations, falling from 107 in 2022 to just 57 in 2025 — a staggering 46.7 per cent decline.
Enugu lost 44 locations, dropping from 162 to 118, while Oyo shed 41, falling from 237 to 196.
Other notable declines were recorded in Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers.
Northern banking centres also feel the squeeze
The contraction was not confined to the South.
Kano, for instance, initially expanded its banking footprint, rising from 164 locations in 2022 to 183 in 2024. But the reversal was sharp in 2025, when the figure crashed to 157.
Kaduna followed a similar pattern. Its locations climbed from 148 in 2022 to 164 in 2024 before falling back to 146 in 2025.
Yet not every state is losing branches.
Delta recorded the strongest expansion among the states highlighted, adding 23 locations and rising from 173 in 2022 to 196 in 2025.
Edo added 10, while Jigawa and Kogi gained six and five locations respectively.
A widening banking divide
The figures expose a striking disparity in access to physical banking infrastructure across Nigeria.
While Lagos had 1,444 branches and cash centres in 2025, Yobe had only 23, Taraba 26 and Zamfara 28.
Bayelsa and Gombe had 31 each, while Ebonyi had 32.
The imbalance underscores how heavily physical banking infrastructure remains concentrated in Nigeria’s major commercial and economic centres.
The bank branch may be losing its battle
The shrinking branch network comes despite the number of banks operating in Nigeria initially increasing.
The country had 32 banks in 2022, 33 in 2023 and 35 in 2024, before the figure slipped slightly to 34 in 2025.
That means the branch closures cannot simply be explained by a shrinking number of banks.
Instead, the figures point to a much bigger transformation: Nigerian banking is moving away from physical locations and towards digital platforms.
The CBN has itself been pushing greater adoption of alternative payment channels, particularly among farmers, traders, small businesses and informal-sector operators who may have limited access to conventional banking services.
Speaking at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stressed the importance of alternative payment channels in expanding financial access and stimulating economic activity.
The message from the numbers is even clearer.
The era of banking halls on every major street may be fading.
With hundreds of branches disappearing in just three years — and the pace of closures accelerating — Nigeria’s banking industry is betting increasingly on phones, apps, electronic payments and other digital channels rather than physical walls and counters.
For millions of Nigerians, the next bank branch may no longer be a building. It may be sitting in their hands.
Business
In The Spotlight
Dangote: OPM Made You 36th Globally—How Many Investors Will Become Billionaires?
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done what very few Africans have ever done. He has built a business empire of extraordinary scale, crossed the $50 billion mark in personal wealth, and reportedly risen to the 36th position among the world’s 3,397 billionaires.
That is an achievement Nigerians can acknowledge. But today, I want to ask a different question. Alhaji Dangote, how many of the Nigerians who are now investing their hard-earned money in your businesses will you help turn into millionaires—and eventually billionaires? That, in my view, is the more important question. Because behind every great fortune is an army of people whose money, labour, patronage, trust and participation helped create that wealth. And that brings us to OPM—Other People’s Money.
Other People's Money Built More Than One Fortune
Let us be honest: no business empire is built by one person alone. Investors provide capital. Banks provide financing. Workers provide labour. Consumers provide revenue. Suppliers provide goods and services. Governments provide infrastructure and an operating environment. And ordinary Nigerians have been buying Dangote products for decades. Now, Nigerians are being invited to take another step—from being customers to becoming owners.
The public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery gives ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to put their money into one of the country's biggest industrial projects. That opportunity comes with risk, of course. Nobody should invest money they cannot afford to lose, and nobody should assume that buying shares automatically guarantees wealth.
But there is a bigger principle here.If Nigerians are going to put their money into Dangote's business, Nigerians should also have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the wealth that business creates.
Don't Take Nigerians for Granted
Alhaji Dangote, Nigerians have supported your businesses.They have bought your cement.They have bought your sugar. They have bought your flour. They have bought countless other products connected to your business empire.Nigerian workers have built factories, transported products, operated plants, sold products and provided services.
Now, ordinary Nigerians are being asked to invest directly. That creates a responsibility—not merely to shareholders, but to the broader Nigerian public.
Don't take Nigerians for granted. Treat the small investor with the same seriousness you would give the institutional investor. Give shareholders transparency. Give them accountability. Give them information. Give them confidence that their money is being managed responsibly. And when the business succeeds, shareholders should have the opportunity to benefit from that success.
Your Greatest Legacy Should Be Bigger Than Your Net Worth
There is nothing wrong with becoming extraordinarily wealthy by building successful businesses.But there comes a point when the conversation should move beyond “How much is Dangote worth?" The more interesting question becomes:How many people became wealthy because Dangote built these businesses?
Imagine the impact if hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who invest today eventually build substantial wealth from their investments. Imagine a young Nigerian who starts with a modest investment and, over decades, builds an investment portfolio capable of paying school fees, buying a home, funding a business or securing retirement. Imagine Nigerian families passing shares from one generation to another. That is how an ownership culture is created.And Nigeria desperately needs an ownership culture.
We Need More Than One Dangote
Nigeria does not simply need another Dangote. Nigeria needs 10,000 Dangotes in different industries.
We need Nigerians who build technology companies, manufacturing companies, agricultural businesses, energy companies, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and global brands.But we also need millions of Nigerians who can become shareholders in those businesses. A country becomes economically stronger when wealth creation spreads beyond a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals.
The refinery therefore presents an interesting test. Can a Nigerian industrial giant create not just a massive fortune for its founder, but also a new generation of Nigerian investors? Can ordinary Nigerians who put their money into the company eventually look back and say:I was there when it started, and I benefited from its growth”?
That would be a powerful story.
From Billionaire to Wealth Creator
Dangote has already demonstrated that he knows how to create enormous corporate value. The next challenge is different.Can he help create enormous shareholder value for ordinary Nigerians?That is where the conversation about his $51.3 billion fortune becomes relevant.
If one man's wealth can grow by tens of billions of dollars, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the people who invest alongside him can also experience meaningful wealth creation. Not necessarily overnight.Not necessarily without risk. But over time.That is what investing is supposed to be about.
The Question Nigerians Should Keep Asking
So, Alhaji Dangote, congratulations on reaching another extraordinary milestone.But don't stop at building your own fortune. Build an ecosystem in which others can build theirs. Don't let Nigerians remain merely consumers of Dangote products. Make them owners. Don't let the story end with one Nigerian becoming one of the world's richest people. Let the next chapter be about thousands, perhaps millions, of Nigerians building meaningful wealth through ownership and investment. Because the real measure of an economic giant is not only how high the founder climbs. It is how many people rise because of the platform he created.
So here is the question Nigerians should be asking: Aliko Dangote, OPM has helped take you to the 36th richest person in the world. Now that Nigerians are putting their own money into your empire, how many of those investors will you help turn into millionaires—and, ultimately, billionaires? That is the legacy question.
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA) Publisher/Editor-in- Chief)
In The Spotlight
Mixed metaphors: Eating them young
On this page, I have praised former Minister Nasir el-Rufai for his work in the Federal Capital Territory.
As governor, I praised some of his work, including when he fired state teachers. I also criticised him when he became arrogant and presumptuous.
Powerful people tend to misjudge distance, in terms of how long they will remain powerful, as well as the depth of their relevance, measuring how power, once in the hands of others, can remain in their favour.
El-Rufai made both miscalculations. Following over two decades of untouchability in power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, he has now spent 200 days in pre-trial detention on ICPC and DSS charges.
This should not happen to a citizen, any citizen. But some citizens, when fate grants them the winning lottery ticket, become Cronus, the Titan in Greek mythology who, to maintain his power, swallowed five of his six children soon after birth.
But not Zeus, his youngest son, who miraculously survived and, becoming the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and the “Father of Gods and Men, “would exact vengeance.
In power, el-Rufai forgot not only the principle of right and wrong, but also the concept of justice.
But it was right there the whole time: on the flip side of injustice. The truth is that wearing glasses to be able to see arms, nobody to see through clouds.
Last Tuesday’s disruption by political thugs of the visit to Benue State of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, is an early reminder of the temptations of power in a Nigerian election year.
The ruling party controls the state, which is in the thick of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. Its governor, Hyacinth Alia, is a Catholic priest. Having, in 2025, been involved in trying to prevent the same Obi from a humanitarian visit, claiming that his intervention was purely on security grounds, Mr Alia is trying to persuade the country that his are not the hands behind the crude attempt to stop, particularly Mr Obi, from travelling freely and safely in the state.
As Minister Festus Keyamo wisely said, this kind of menace is not a part of our democracy. Mr Alia, show the world your strengths, not your limitations.
Big news: the 2024 Auditor-General’s Non-Compliance report, published last month, identified over N1.34trn in audit lapses.
It found that the National Cash Transfer Office paid N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households in 35 states in 2023 with no evidence that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The Office could not produce REMITA records to authenticate the payments. SERAP has written to President Tinubu demanding a published audit trail and investigation of the flagged N78.8bn in total irregularities.
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the EFCC to investigate and prosecute officials.
Given that we are dealing with a specific regime of governance coated in colours of ruthlessness, it is doubtful that these calls will yield anything.
The truth is that the situation is worse than what we know so far, and so, I have a different call: that Nigerians pay close attention to what is actually a long-running looting spree of our poorest and most vulnerable. There is a scorched-earth assault going on.
I begin in 2019, the start of the second term of the fake anti-corruption champion Muhammadu Buhari:
The Auditor-General’s 2019 report on the FGN Consolidated Financial Statements discovered that 36 MDAs made individual transfer payments,totalingN15,534,467,561.26, without identifying the beneficiaries, ignoring the relevant budget lines for “Transfers–Payment to Unemployed” and “Transfers–Payment to Aged/Vulnerable Group.” The Auditor-General flagged the risk of “diversion of public funds” and “misapplication of funds.”
The 2020 report is more curious. In the MDA-by-MDA budget-performance schedule, the National Social Investment Office shows: Approved Budget N0.00, Supplementary Budget N0.00, Total Budget N0.00, but the actual spending is N275,010,764,595.02! That is, the NSIO somehow recorded spending N275bn with no budgetary authorisation at all.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2021 Non-Compliance report, Volume II, found under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that N54,630,000,000 in N-Power Batch C1 stipends (the August–December 2021 backlog) was recorded as paid but, per the Auditor-General’s own field visits, “was not actually effected to the beneficiaries.”
The same section found N2,617,090,786 paid for the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (COVID-19 period), the Auditor-General recommending full recovery to the Treasury: a combined N58.05bn flagged in that one ministry in that one year.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2022 Non-Compliance file is titled as Volumes I and II merged, but despite that filename, Volume II appears to be absent, as it excludes Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO or NASSCO, meaning that their work was either not audited at all, or that that specific audit has yet to be published.
Again, and similarly, despite examining the two volumes of the 2023 Non-Compliance report, neither the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO, NASSCO, N-Power, GEEP nor school feeding appears anywhere, although many other agencies were thoroughly audited.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
That brings us to the 2024 itemised findings SERAP has publicized: N33.751bn in cash transfers with no beneficiary confirmation; N36.744bn paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit; N4.616bn in unsupported expenditure which the Auditor-General says “may have been diverted”; N350.18m in enrolment payments to state coordinators with no supporting documentation; N89.51m for store items never delivered or logged; N17.42m in diesel cash advances with no traceable purchases; and at NASSCO, N2.24bn paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit.
These appear to be the patterns that Nigerian MDAs exhibit in their work every year, with vulnerable Nigerians exploited every year.
But the first challenge is for journalists to track Humanitarian Affairs/NSIPA through every audit year to establish the full carnage.
There is another crisis: that despite all of this, a lot of MDAs still fail to submit audited accounts to the Auditor-General, representing one of Nigeria’s worst accountability challenges. This is a problem that worsened significantly under the Buhari administration despite his anti-corruption rhetoric. According to the Auditor-General, the 2016 audit year saw the highest number of non-submissions (324) in modern Nigerian history: more than double the previous 22-year high of 148. In 2016-2017 alone, 436 agencies failed to submit accounts. Think about that.
President Bola Tinubu is in the middle of a three-week foreign trip, departing without formally informing the National Assembly or handing over to Vice President Shettima, violating the constitution.
For a man who is seeking a second term of office, this is a stark reminder of how little the rules, or for that matter, Nigeria, really matter to Mr Tinubu. Keep in mind that when he headed north, Mr Shettima headed south, to Angola.
The general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly will begin on 22 September. Mr Tinubu is scheduled to speak the following morning.
At a time of chaos and doubt in his leadership, and in democracy under his watch, he will confront the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
By Sonala Olumhense