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Reps launch probe into over ₦30bn recovered during the NSIPA fraud investigation.
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Funds were never remitted to the agency’s TSA months after recovery.
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House sets up an ad-hoc committee to trace the money and identify those withholding it.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the disappearance of more than ₦30 billion recovered during the 2024–2025 probe of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
The lawmakers raised concerns that the funds, recovered from banks and payment service providers during the anti-corruption investigation, have not been returned to government accounts despite the probe ending months ago.
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The resolution followed a motion of urgent national importance moved by Hon. Saidu Musa Abdullahi (APC, Niger). He warned that the missing funds were crucial for restarting social investment programmes that millions of vulnerable Nigerians depend on.
Abdullahi explained that NSIPA—responsible for schemes such as TraderMoni, MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, GEEP loans, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), and Grants for Vulnerable Groups—has been unable to resume operations because the recovered funds were never remitted to its Treasury Single Account.
He recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended NSIPA’s operations on January 8, 2024, to enable a probe into alleged financial misconduct at the agency. According to him, the investigation led to the tracing, freezing and recovery of substantial sums, but credible estimates now place unreleased recovered funds at over ₦30bn.
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The lawmaker lamented that despite the President lifting the suspension on January 21, 2025, the agency has not received “a single naira,” leaving intended beneficiaries stranded and worsening poverty levels nationwide.
He added that the delay has weakened small businesses, increased hardship and eroded public confidence in the administration’s poverty-alleviation agenda.
Abdullahi also expressed concern that the unclear custody of the recovered funds poses fiscal risks and could obstruct programme implementation if not addressed urgently.
Following debate, the House mandated the newly formed ad-hoc committee to trace all recovered funds, determine their custodians, identify reasons for the delay, and engage all relevant agencies for full disclosure. The committee is expected to obtain NSIPA’s implementation and disbursement plan and report back to the House within four weeks.
