•Tinubu
The World Bank has disbursed additional funds to Nigeria under the $800 million National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up, raising the total amount released to $530 million.
Checks by our correspondent yesterday on the World Bank’s official website revealed that the cumulative disbursement had increased from the earlier reported $315m in 2023 to $530m this year, reflecting fresh inflows into Nigeria’s accounts for the palliative programme, reports The PUNCH.
Although the exact day the extra disbursement was made this year could not be independently verified, findings showed that the World Bank was yet to update the detailed section of its portal that typically records transaction dates as of April 30, 2025, suggesting that the disbursement was very recent and likely made this month.
The $800m facility, approved on December 16, 2021, was designed to provide conditional cash transfers to Nigeria’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens, cushioning the impact of recent economic shocks, including the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Originally, the programme was structured to deliver N5,000 monthly to targeted households. However, following policy changes introduced by the Bola Tinubu administration, the payment was revised to N25,000 monthly for three months, aimed at reaching 15 million households across the country.
In October and November 2023, the World Bank disbursed $300m and $15m, respectively, to Nigeria under the programme. A review of World Bank records at the time by The PUNCH showed that the cumulative release then stood at $315m.
New data obtained yesterday shows that an additional $215m has been released, bringing the total disbursement to $530m and reducing the amount available for drawdown to about $226.73m.
This means that 66.25 per cent of the loan has been disbursed, with about 33.75 per cent left.
Despite receiving World Bank approval since December 2021, the implementation of the palliative programme suffered a disbursement delay of nearly 17 months.
While Nigeria awaited disbursements from the World Bank under the $800m National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up loan, data reviewed by The PUNCH revealed that the country continued to incur and settle interest charges totalling over $6.18m, despite the protracted delay in actual fund utilisation.
World Bank records show that Nigeria paid multiple tranches of interest charges under the financing agreement tagged IDA-70190, including substantial payments made in January and July 2024.
On January 30, 2024, Nigeria paid three separate charges amounting to $822,259.40, $495,603.16, and another $495,603.16, bringing the January total to over $1.81m. These payments came months after the initial $300m and $15m disbursements made in October and November 2023, respectively.
Further charges were paid on July 15, 2024, when four separate interest payments totalling over $5.36m were recorded. The July charges included $1.98m, two entries of $1.19m each, and a separate charge of $3,737.83.
Together with the January payments, Nigeria’s total charges on the loan amounted to approximately $6,181,877.35. These interest charges were paid even as a significant portion of the loan remained undisbursed.
The delays were largely due to administrative bottlenecks, political transitions, and subsequent scandals that rocked the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the supervising agency.
In December 2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission uncovered an alleged N37.1bn fraud within the ministry under former Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq. Investigations revealed that funds meant for social interventions were allegedly laundered through contractors and other third parties. Umar-Farouq was invited for questioning by the EFCC and detained in January 2024.
Her successor, Dr Betta Edu, was also implicated after reports surfaced that she authorised the transfer of N585m into a private account for the purpose of paying vulnerable groups. The Accountant-General of the Federation rejected the transaction on the grounds that it violated public financial regulations.
Following these revelations, President Bola Tinubu suspended Edu in January 2024 and ordered a comprehensive investigation into the ministry’s financial dealings. The EFCC confirmed the recovery of about N32.7bn and $445,000 linked to the alleged frauds.
Halima Shehu, who served as the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, was also arrested after allegedly moving N44 billion from NSIPA accounts to several suspicious destinations.
In light of these developments, President Tinubu appointed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to head a special investigative panel tasked with reviewing and restructuring the architecture of Nigeria’s social investment programmes.
The panel’s mandate is to ensure that future interventions are managed transparently and efficiently, with an emphasis on accountability.
The federal government, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, also partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Identity Management Commission to enforce mandatory registration of beneficiaries with Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers to tighten controls over disbursement.
Despite the initial disbursement delay, the World Bank rated Nigeria’s implementation of the $800m National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up as only moderately satisfactory, reflecting both progress and significant areas of concern as the project nears its closing date.
Checks by our correspondent on the Bank’s latest Implementation Status and Results Report show that as of January 29, 2025, the progress towards achieving the Project Development Objective was rated moderately satisfactory.
The overall implementation progress was also graded moderately satisfactory, suggesting that while some milestones had been reached, critical gaps remained in execution and delivery.
However, the bank flagged deeper concerns around financial management, procurement processes, and monitoring and evaluation, all of which were rated moderately unsatisfactory.
According to checks on the World Bank’s website, the Washington-based lender noted lapses in how funds were managed, inconsistencies in procurement procedures, and weaknesses in tracking and evaluating programme results.
The National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up is officially scheduled to close on December 31, 2025, pending any extension request from Nigeria to the World Bank.
Prior to the scale up programme, there was an initial National Social Safety Nets Project, approved by the World Bank in June 2016, aimed to provide targeted cash transfers to Nigeria’s poorest and most vulnerable households.
With an International Development Association credit of $500m, the project sought to establish a national social safety net system. The initial NASSP became effective in October 2017 and officially closed on December 31, 2022.
Despite its objectives, the project faced challenges, including allegations of corruption and mismanagement. A recent document obtained by our correspondent from the World Bank website noted, “The 2020 Fiduciary In-depth Review identified some weaknesses in the procurement system in NCTO and NASSCO, respectively.
“The identified issues are being addressed through an action plan, which will be monitored regularly during the implementation of the parent project and Scale-Up operation.”
The National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office is tasked with managing Nigeria’s National Social Register and coordinating the identification of poor and vulnerable households for cash transfer programmes.
The National Cash Transfer Office, operating under NASSCO, is responsible for administering and disbursing the cash transfers to beneficiaries, ensuring payments are made correctly, and addressing any related grievances.
Both agencies play critical roles in executing the World Bank-supported National Social Safety Net Programme and its Scale-Up by ensuring that financial aid reaches the intended households across the country.
It was also observed that in January 2025, the World Bank announced a 30-month debarment of two Nigerian companies, Viva Atlantic Limited and Technology House Limited, along with their Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Norman Bwuruk Didam.
The debarment was due to findings of fraudulent, collusive, and corrupt practices related to the NASSP. Investigations revealed that the companies and Didam misrepresented conflicts of interest in their bids, accessed confidential tender information from public officials, and submitted falsified documents
Also, they offered inducements to project officials, violating the World Bank’s anti-corruption guidelines.
The debarment prohibits them from participating in any World Bank-financed projects during the sanction period. Much earlier, on March 12, 2024, the World Bank’s Chief Suspension and Debarment Officer issued a notice of sanctions proceedings against Mr. Akuboh Victor Uneojo, a consultant based in Abuja.
Uneojo was debarred for a minimum period of two years and one month after admitting to making corrupt payments to an intermediary intended to influence a project official’s actions concerning a consultancy contract under the NASSP.
These actions were deemed corrupt practices under the World Bank’s sanctions framework. These sanctions indicate the fraud challenges in the implementation of social safety net programmes in Nigeria.
