By Sabiu Abdullahi
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has asked the Federal Government to account for more than N600 billion reportedly disbursed under its cash transfer programme for vulnerable Nigerians.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), raised the concerns in a statement issued by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, on Thursday.
He also questioned the difference between the number of households the government currently says have benefited from the programme and an earlier figure announced by the Presidency.
On July 16, President Bola Tinubu said the expanded cash transfer programme had reached 15 million vulnerable households and lifted an estimated 7.5 million Nigerians out of poverty.
However, Bernard Doro, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, said on Wednesday that more than N600 billion had been disbursed to slightly over 10 million households since Tinubu became president.
Doro made the disclosure during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he said the beneficiaries could amount to about 40 million people based on an average household size of four.
“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years,” Doro said.
Atiku Questions Five-Million Household Difference
Atiku said the figures from the government did not correspond and called for clarification on the actual number of beneficiaries.
“On 16 July 2026, the Presidency officially declared that expanded cash transfers had reached 15 million vulnerable households,” the statement reads.
“It repeated essentially the same figure on 2 August 2026. Yet on 26 August 2026, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs suddenly told Nigerians that only ‘slightly over 10 million households’ had been reached.
“So where did five million households go? These are not opposition figures. They are Tinubu’s figures contradicting Tinubu’s figures.”
The former vice-president also challenged the government’s expenditure figures based on the amount each qualifying household was expected to receive.
According to him, the government had indicated that eligible households would receive N25,000 monthly for three months, which amounted to N75,000 per household.
“If 10 million households received the full payment, that would be about N750 billion. If 15 million households did, it would exceed N1.1 trillion. Yet government says it spent just over N600 billion,” he said.
Atiku demanded information on the number of beneficiaries who received one, two or all three payments. He also sought details of failed and reversed transactions.
“A name on a social register is not a bank alert. Counting people in a database is not the same thing as proving money reached them,” Atiku said.
Atiku Demands Disbursement Records
The ADC presidential candidate urged the Federal Government to publish verifiable records showing how the funds were distributed.
“If N600 billion truly moved, then government must show the trail: unique verified households, payment tranches, state-by-state distribution, failed transactions, reversals and an independent audit,” he said.
Atiku also criticised the government’s wider poverty-reduction strategy. He argued that economic policies should tackle the factors that increase the cost of living rather than rely mainly on cash support after households become vulnerable.
He cited his proposed intervention in the domestic petroleum value chain as an approach aimed at reducing fuel and transportation costs.
“When petrol becomes cheaper, the bus driver spends less, the farmer moves produce more cheaply, the trader pays less for haulage, businesses face lower logistics costs and the savings travel through the economy to the family kitchen,” he said.
