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The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, led by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has demanded an immediate investigation into what it described as the “criminal diversion” of the $3.4bn emergency loan Nigeria received from the International Monetary Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Falana, who is ASCAB’s Chairman, accused the government of mismanaging the funds meant to cushion the pandemic’s impact.
He also faulted the IMF for failing to enforce safeguards that would have ensured the funds were properly used.
“The emergency funds were meant to provide critical support to Nigeria’s healthcare system, protect jobs, and stabilise the economy,” Falana said. “Instead, they were diverted, reclassified, and in large part remain unaccounted for.”
The IMF had last week announced that Nigeria had fully repaid the $3.4bn obtained under its Rapid Financing Instrument.
However, Falana noted that the country still faces outstanding charges, including net interest and administrative fees totaling SDR 125.99m—an estimated N275.28bn.
“Even though Nigeria has repaid the principal, the issue of accountability remains unresolved,” Falana stated. “The repayment does not wipe away the serious allegations raised in the Auditor-General’s report.”
According to Falana, the 2020 audit report released in January 2024 by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation revealed that a large portion of the IMF loan was not used for emergency relief.
Falana described the actions as “a betrayal of public trust,” asserting: “The reclassification of funds as external reserves was a scheme to sidestep accountability and benefit from interest on funds meant to save lives.”
“The audit also revealed that in August 2020, the Ministry of Finance requested the monetisation of $700m to fund the national budget. The CBN approved a debit of ₦265.65bn at an inflated exchange rate, distributing ₦252bn to the COVID-19 Public Sector Account, ₦13.3bn to the Forex Equalisation Account, and ₦350m to the Exchange Commission Account.
“A questionable 2% commission was deducted from the transaction, despite the funds being Federal Government property,” Falana added. “By the end of 2020, a staggering $2.7bn—equivalent to ₦1.02tn—remained unaccounted for.
“The report clearly states that the culprits should be handed over to the EFCC and ICPC for investigation and prosecution,” Falana emphasised. “But sadly, the National Assembly has refused to act on this damning report.”
He accused both chambers of the National Assembly of “deliberately covering up” the scandal. “Despite receiving the Auditor-General’s 2020 report, the Public Accounts Committees have failed to convene or initiate any probe—this is in blatant violation of Section 85(5) of the Constitution,” he said.
Consequently, ASCAB is calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to “commence a full-scale investigation into the criminal diversion of the IMF loan.”
The group also urged the IMF Board to examine the actions of its own management. “The IMF must probe its failure to enforce its own governance conditions,” Falana said. “We further urge the Fund to immediately suspend collection of all outstanding charges—amounting to SDR 125.99m—until these serious allegations are addressed.”
