The Governorship/Houses of Assembly Elections in Rivers State have been a miniature war with armed militias and thugs working for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Elections in Rivers State appear to be a do-or-die battle for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDD, and its chieftains. Yesterday, Friday April 10, Sports Minister, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, arrived his native Abonnema, Akuku Toru local Government, in company with security agents and armed militiamen went around the community terrorising supporters of All Progressives Congress, APC. The heavily armed militiamen working for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP seized electoral materials in Akuku Toru Wards 15, 16 and 17. They stormed the area where officials were distributing materials in a gunboat manned by one Chief Isimama Ikiriko, hijacked all materials at gunpoint. The attackers were led by two notorious cultists who were identified as Hope Dan Opusungi and Kenneth Dan Opusungi.
Having seized the materials, the armed men barred polling agents of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from escorting the materials to the distribution centre. The two Opusungis’, like Chief Ikiriko, are all known card-carrying members of PDP. Kenneth Opusingi and his crew were lodged at De Don Hotel in Abonema. All these activities were carried out in the presence of Security Officials.
Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo’s close associate, Roland Sekibo, also known as gun runner, was moving with soldiers, policemen and suspected cultists. The cultists used machetes and other dangerous weapons to unleash terror on All Progressives Congress, APC. Many people were driven into the bush where they sought refuge, while Sekibo, military men, policemen and crew took over the Abonnema Bridge turning back APC chieftains and supporters. Shooting continued and still ongoing as at the time of the report.
Prior to the elections, Dame Patience Jonathan wife of the President and a native of Oba ama Okirka, had visited Rivers State meeting with Tom Ateke, an ex militant leader, security chiefs, DPO and other INEC personnel. From threatening to cajoling she appealed that she will be disgraced by an APC win in Rivers State.
To ensure that she achieves her aim she has turned Rivers State into a killing field. In Idu, ONELGA, the youth leader, Hon. Clever Orukowu was reported dead. Also in Borokiri, Rex Lawson Extension, a policeman was killed.
In her hometown, the Election Officer has forced manual accreditation on all parties regardless of resistance by agents. militia men, Nna Alibi, Solomon Opusiki, Jeremiah Opuikpaki, Angbona and Ogubi are going round from ward to ward shooting and retrieving the result sheets. They have hijacked materials in wads 2,4,5,6,7,8 and 9. In ward 3, PDP members were thumb printing in the home of Daibi Biamofori.
Yet all isn’t gloom in Tai Local Government Area, Local Government Areas, MOPOL56 2ic recovered materials meant for nine wards in the home of Dr. Jacobson Nbina’s house in Semi, Tai. However attempts were being made to release the culprits as at the time of filing this report.
Elsewhere in Abua/Odual - most materials were hijacked by PDP led by Henry Ogiri (DFA, NDDC) in connivance with INEC EO to Okolomade via Bayelsa State. PDP thugs chased all APC agents and other party members out of Units 4 - 9 in Ward 003 and carted away with all the electoral materials. Marshall Uwom from Ward 003, Otari community, hijacked INEC materials with thugs just now. In Ahoada East – INEC Presiding Officers, POs, lodged in Palm Royal Hotel by PDP officials. Promised N100,000 each to rig in favour of PDP. No security presence at all and materials are about to be moved. While in Emuohua, armed militia men, sponsored by Elder Chinedu Tasie/Nwabueze who lives in town and they have camped in Chineme Madume’s house in Omuaran village in Ibaa Ward 6 in Emohua LGA. In ward 4 in Emuohua, SPO, Adona Igwe has carted away with the result sheets and other sensitive materials. She was eventually located.
In Tombia, Degema Local Government Area, and ex-Niger Delta warlord and House of Assembly candidate on the platform of PDP, Farah Dagogo, and his group terriorized the community, shooting and threatening all those who would not vote for the PDP.
In Andoni, hometown of Rivers state Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, Security threat against APC members by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by suspected Islander Cult group who were lodged in Ebukuma Town, Andoni local government. Gun shots were fired by the PDP armed men warning APC members not to come out on Saturday to vote. In Ward 007, PU 002, thugs with guns threatening the community people. Accra Titus Jones who was caught with AK-47 Riffles with four others by the police is from Andoni Ward 5, Ikuru Town and a notorious cultist. He is the same boy that led PDP thugs to the ward to hijack election materials in the last elections. Thugs hired by a PDP women leader Mrs Tonye Oyinda are presently mounted in the polling unit to prevent Ibinabo Briggs (APC) agent from going close to the materials.
In Asari Toru - Commissioner for Women Affairs’ house is being attacked by thugs who are shooting and setting her house ablaze with explosives. No security, PDP thugs are moving about the community shooting guns and dynamites. They have threatened to burn down Dr. Dawari's George's house. One Mr. John had his property and car were vandalized. The issue is all over Buguma town. In Ward 019, they informed that there is shooting by thugs and it's being spare-headed by one Dr. Wokoma in the entire Buguma town. The caller also informed that they threw dynamite. Properties are being burnt right now. The people can't come out. They are scared. They need security urgently - Ward 005. In Ward 025, the caller reported that all the electoral materials have bee burnt.
APC agents in Bonny, staged a peaceful protest as all the SPO's in Ward 012 were PDP Exco members. An APC agent was detained by INEC officials in Bonny. One Victor Oko Jumbo led over a hundred cult boys loyal to Wike into Bonny. They are familiar faces at the University of Port Harcourt. Leader of the armed cultists was identified as Uche Ekwueme. Efforts to make arrest failed. One PDP Randolph Brown is in-charge of the police. The DPO botched the plan.
In Ward 015, PU 001, Gokana Local Government Area, Chairman has been abducted by Solomon Ndigbara. The entrance has been padlocked and the thugs are armed. Ward 016, PU 002 no INEC staff or material visible as at that moment(8.43am). Ward 004, Result sheets have been diverted. Ward 004 Original Result sheets and ballot papers have been diverted in connivance with INEC officials and INEC adhoc staff who are PDP members.
There were shootings in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Ward 2 Onanelu by PDP thugs. In Omoku, all returning officers are members of PDP. We had hoped that there would be reshuffling. This was some of their strategy last time in Ward 001 and it is working for them again. Festus the Ward Collation Officer reported that the Police DPO did not allow APC agent and the APC chieftain Ofule Enebele to take stock of Election materials. The DPO was later involved in a private discussion with the PDP Stakeholders, Ward 014. Ward 006, no result sheet. Ward 016, PU 015 no result sheet. INEC officials are being replaced with PDP members. Ward 008, no result sheet.
Obio/Akpor - APC agents are not being allowed into the primary school at ward 6 Obio/Akpor while PDP agents Odogu (PDP Ward 6 chairman), Jaja Mgba and Ihianhi Chioma were allowed to go in.
The DPO, Ozuoba Divisional Police headquarters, from the information gathered is assisting the PDP in Akpor kingdom under the leadership of ‘Heaven’, the ward Chairman, to snatch away sensitive materials like result sheets this night. Ammunition arriving through Rumukparali by boat.
Mr .Wilson was escorting electoral materials but had to run for safety when PDP thugs arrived and threatened everyone's safety. Mr Wilson ran for cover and abandoned his agents' phone at home.
Materials are being transferred from the INEC truck into a Mitsubishi Bus at Rumuola College of Arts and Science with the assistance of the police.
INEC materials have been tempered with at the Obio/Akpor RAC centre. They have been changed with fake materials but our (APC) agents are fully on ground to make sure no material is distributed to the units until we have verified their validity. But we need security to make sure we are safe. Commander has not answered my calls since.
Obio/Akpor collation centre, the materials were hijacked last night. No PDP agents were found present.
In Ward 006, police manhandling all APC Agents and restricting their access to electoral materials while giving PDP agents full access. Materials are moving to polling units without APC agents accompanying them.
In Ward 011, no result sheet. Call from Rumuola rack centre. police prevented APC members from coming in. at 2:00am a car drove in exchanging materials to the vehicles. Police shut into the air to scare them away. They need the INEC officials to ascertain if the other materials are original.
A special police unit drafted to the RAC covering wards 9, 10 and 11 situate at St. John's model primary school Rumueme beat up and chased APC agents away to allow Anugbum Onuoha (cousin to the PDP Guber Candidate) to come in with a carton containing some electoral materials and took away original results sheets for those wards. These 3 wards have no less than 90,000 votes.
No result sheet in Rumueme Ward Ward 010, PU 023. In unit 8 inclusive in the troubled area and the caller said it's Rumuomasi rack centre(where materials for election are to be collected). The caller informed that the policemen brought in materials which were exchanged with other materials.
Caller said the result sheet is missing in Ward 008. Heavy Security presence needed. There is threat to life and property in Ward 004, PU 003. Report as at 8.19.06am of April 11.
Finding reveal that, the DPO Ozuoba divisional Headquarter, from the information gathered is assisting the PDP in Akpor Kingdom under the leadership of Heaven, the ward Chairman to snatch away sensitive materials like result sheets this night. Arms and ammunition being brought into Rumukparali.
Despite the crisis and violence visited across Rivers State by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP even before the elections, the All Progressives Congress, APC, was in early lead prompting renewed attacks on APC members and polling units.
Ebonyi
... PDP Chairman, One Other Killed
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Emeka Nworie, and Mike Ojor, a middle-aged man, have been shot dead in Ebonyi State following the violence that erupted on Saturday while the governorship election was on-going.
The circumstances over their killing are still shady, but they were shot dead in Ikwo Nnoyo in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state as confirmed by the Public Relations Officer of the Police in the state, ASP Chris Anyanwu.
Osun state
... Police Battle Gunmen in communities
In Ilase in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, gunmen invaded the polling station with the aim of scuttling the process.
According to residents, the gunmen who the claimed were contracted by some politicians, met stronger opposition in the police and they fled.
Ajibola Bashiru, former commissioner for special duties in the state alleged that a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who he did not name, brought the hoodlums to attack a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jumoke Ogunkeyede.
Sola Olowoye à PDP member however claimed that the political thugs were brought to the community by a notable APC leader but were repelled by the youths, who were ready to ensure that nobody disrupted the election.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of election in Osun State, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu confirmed that the gunmen came to Ilase and were repelled by the police.
“There was no crisis in Ilase and gunmen did not take over the town. What happened was that some gunmen came but they were repelled by my men," Ntomchukwu said.
Delta State...Gunmen Beat Policewoman, Snatch ballot boxes
Voters at at Ebedeni Ward 6, Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State had to run for their lives around 1.30 pm after thugs invaded the unit snatching ballot papers and boxes after beating the policewoman on duty mercilessly.
The lone policewoman at the station, was stripped of her police cap her identity card.
The Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in the state, Mr. Aniedi Ikiowak, was said to have visited the place shortly after the incident.
No official comment has been issued by the REC.
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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