HURIWA Demands Probe Into N34.53 Trillion Revenue Diversion

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for an immediate criminal investigation into what it described as a staggering and systemic diversion of public funds, following a World Bank disclosure that about N34.53 trillion in government revenue was withheld or deducted through opaque mechanisms between 2023 and 2025. In a statement signed on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group said the revelation confirms long-held suspicions that a shadow financial system now operates within Nigeria’s public finance architecture. 

According to HURIWA, the World Bank report indicated that roughly 41 percent of federation revenue failed to reach the Federation Account due to so-called first-line charges, representing what it termed a catastrophic indictment of Nigeria’s fiscal governance structure.

HURIWA specifically referenced agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigeria Customs Service, which it said have long operated complex retention structures that escape effective legislative scrutiny, enabling what it called a parallel fiscal empire operating outside the budgetary framework. The group also accused the National Assembly of failing in its constitutional duty of oversight, alleging that lawmakers have become silent spectators in the face of large-scale fiscal irregularities.

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HURIWA issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Federal Government, the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies to announce concrete investigative steps, warning that continued silence would confirm fears of institutional capture. The group urged Nigerians, civil society groups, labour unions and religious organisations to demand accountability, stating that public office must never become a licence for organised economic sabotage.