SERAP gives the Central Bank of Nigeria seven days to explain missing $6.23 million election funds or face court action.
The Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project(SERAP) has sent a strong warning letter to the leaders of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The civil rights group is demanding that the top bank explain what happened to $6.23 million that was removed from the bank under the pretext of election spending.
In addition to this foreign cash, SERAP is also asking the bank to show full records for another big sum of public money totaling over 1.63 trillion naira that cannot be properly accounted for in official government papers.
The group sent this official warning letter directly to the current Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, on Saturday, September 26, 2026.
The letter was written and signed by the Deputy Director of SERAP, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare. In the document, the group gave the bank governor and his management seven days to publish all the details showing where the money went and who collected it.
SERAP warned that if the bank fails to explain everything clearly before the seven days expire, they will take the Central Bank to court.
The main reason why SERAP is making this strong demand right now is that a fresh government report released by the Auditor-General of the Federation exposed massive financial problems inside the bank.
The official report, which came out on August 7, 2026, covered transactions carried out between January and December 2023.
According to the report, the Central Bank released $6.23 million after receiving a paper claiming former President Muhammadu Buhari needed election funding.
However, when government auditors asked to see the internal investigation report about this foreign cash transfer, the bank refused to produce it, creating fears that the money was stolen or used fraudulently.
In the letter sent to the Central Bank governor, SERAP urged Mr. Olayemi Cardoso and the bank to explain the money clearly and publish their findings.
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Asking the bank leadership to release the hidden facts, SERAP stated in the letter that the bank should “account for the $6.23 million reportedly ‘spent following a purported request for election funding by former President Muhammadu Buhari’, and publish the findings of the internal investigation into the alleged fraud, including measures taken to recover the funds and establish accountability”.
Explaining why missing public money must be checked properly, the group added, “These findings by the Auditor-General raise serious concerns about the management and accountability of public resources and potential violations of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), national anti-corruption laws and Nigeria’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption”.
Demanding that the government catch anyone who took the public money, SERAP stated further that “identifying those responsible, ensuring that any perpetrators are brought to justice, and securing the full recovery of any missing or unaccounted-for public funds would serve the public interest and help to address impunity for the mismanagement of public resources”.
Apart from the election cash, the report showed that over 1.25 trillion naira given to state governments as loan support was never paid back, while another 262 billion naira given out under the farmer support program called Anchor Borrowers’ Programme remains unrecovered.
The auditors also discovered that 116 billion naira loaned to banks that went out of business was not accounted for. SERAP has insisted that all people involved must be handed over to anti-graft agencies like the EFCC and ICPC if the bank cannot produce the money within 7 days.
Jennifer Baba is a journalist, international news correspondent, and writer at Moderncrux, where she covers artificial intelligence, fintech, emerging technologies, global politics, and international affairs. Based in Nigeria, she is passionate about transforming complex global developments into clear, engaging stories that inform and inspire readers.
