Atiku Pledges Probe Into N25,000 Per Household Palliative

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has promised to set up a team of independent professionals to examine audit findings surrounding the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme for vulnerable Nigerians.

The proposed review will focus on N33.75 billion reportedly paid to 3.29 million households under the programme. The amount works out to about N10,258 per household based on the figures contained in the audit findings.

Atiku made his position known on Saturday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, saying the figures raised questions about how the funds were distributed and whether the intended beneficiaries actually received the money.

He said Nigerians facing rising costs of food, transportation and electricity should be able to establish how government funds meant to support them were spent.

Atiku commended the Auditor-General of the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, for raising concerns about the handling of the funds and said public institutions had a responsibility to protect government resources.

The former vice president also questioned different figures previously released by the government concerning the cash transfer programme. He referred to claims that more than N600 billion had been paid to over 10 million households, following an earlier reference to 15 million households.

He argued that government announcements alone were not enough to prove that payments had actually reached beneficiaries. According to him, records should show the names of recipients, the amounts paid and the dates of the transactions.

The audit findings cited by Atiku also reportedly raised questions over N36.74 billion in payments made without pre-payment audit, while payment vouchers were said to be unavailable for another N4.62 billion.

Atiku said his proposed team would consist of experts in finance, auditing, technology and public accounting. The team is expected to examine beneficiary information, payment channels, reconciliation records and the audit queries using available public and institutional records.

He said the findings would be made available to Nigerians after the review.

Atiku also called for payment records from platforms used to process the transfers to be made available for scrutiny. He said such records should provide evidence that the money was received by the people listed as beneficiaries.

He maintained that any restriction on access to payment records should also be explained to the public.

Beyond the cash transfer programme, Atiku said government policies should focus on improving Nigerians’ purchasing power by reducing the cost of food, transportation and energy.

He proposed a production-based approach that would support domestic refining and increase local energy supply, with the aim of reducing energy costs for citizens.

The former vice president added that anyone found to have misused funds meant for vulnerable Nigerians should face the consequences provided by law.

He said Nigerians who are already struggling with higher living costs should not also be deprived of financial support allocated to them by government.