₦128bn Scandal: SERAP Sues Power Minister Adelabu Over Massive Missing Funds and Grid Collapse

Serap Lawsuit Power Ministry

₦128bn Scandal: SERAP Sues Power Minister Adelabu Over Massive Missing Funds and Grid Collapse

SERAP lawsuit Power Ministry is the latest legal battle aiming to uncover how ₦128 billion in public funds vanished while Nigerians continue to face persistent national grid collapses.

By Emily Carter (@ECarterUpdates)

The Darkness Within: Nigeria’s Grid Collapse Meets the Missing Billions

On the night of January 23, 2026, millions of Nigerians were plunged into a familiar, suffocating darkness. As the national grid gave way to yet another total collapse—the first of the new year—the frustration in the air was palpable. But this time, the silence of the blackout was met with the loud, thunderous filing of a lawsuit that seeks to answer the age-old question: why does the Giant of Africa struggle to keep its light bulbs flickering?

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has officially thrown down the gauntlet, linking the technical failures of our power infrastructure directly to the systemic rot of corruption. The lawsuit suggests that the frequent “system collapses” touted by officials are not merely technical glitches but the physical manifestations of ₦128 billion that has reportedly vanished into the ether of bureaucracy. It is a bold narrative shift that moves the conversation from “faulty transformers” to “stolen futures.

For the average Nigerian, this isn’t just a legal battle over spreadsheets and audit reports; it is an interrogation of the misery caused by estimated billing and the roar of expensive generators. The naija.newsburrow Press Team has been tracking the paper trail, and the findings are as staggering as they are heartbreaking. The lawsuit argues that while public officials trade blame, the machinery of the state is being starved of the very funds meant to stabilize the nation’s heartbeat.

The shock factor here is simple: if that ₦128 billion had been channeled into the grid, perhaps the darkness of last week would never have happened. This case, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, isn’t just about recovering money; it’s about recovering the dignity of a nation tired of living in the shadows. The battle lines are drawn, and the stakes have never been higher for the Ministry of Power.

FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026: The Legal Siege on Adelabu and NBET

The legal document now sitting on the desk of the Federal High Court carries the weight of a frustrated populace. Suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026 is a relentless demand for transparency, specifically targeting the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) PLC. SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus, a powerful legal tool that would compel these entities to stop the silence and start the accounting.

The core of the legal siege is the demand for a detailed disclosure. SERAP wants names, addresses of contractors, disbursement dates, and the specific “services rendered” for the billions that have reportedly gone MIA. It is a surgical strike against the “anonymity” that usually protects public sector transactions in Nigeria. By demanding these details, the lawsuit aims to pull back the curtain on the shadowy figures who benefit from the country’s energy woes.

This isn’t a mere suggestion of wrongdoing; it is a calculated pursuit of accountability. The naija.newsburrow Network has reviewed the filing, which contends that the failure to account for these funds is a fundamental breach of the 1999 Constitution and international anti-corruption treaties. The legal team at SERAP is betting that the court will agree that “public interest” outweighs any bureaucratic excuse for non-disclosure.

The Auditor-General’s Smoking Gun: Revelations from the 2025 Report

Every great investigation needs a smoking gun, and in this case, it is the Auditor-General’s annual report published on September 9, 2025. This document provides a cold, hard look at the financial indiscipline within the Ministry of Power and NBET. It outlines a pattern of behavior where money moves with the fluidity of water but leaves no trace of work done. The ₦128 billion figure isn’t an exaggeration—it is a sum of documented irregularities.

The report highlights a staggering lack of documentation for massive payouts. When billions are moved without vouchers or procurement advertisements, it creates a “black hole” in the national budget. The Auditor-General’s findings suggest that the internal control mechanisms meant to protect our commonwealth were either bypassed or were non-existent. This isn’t just a clerical error; it’s an institutional failure of catastrophic proportions.

Below is a simplified breakdown of the core financial discrepancies identified in the report that formed the basis for the current legal action:

Entity	Amount Involved	Nature of Irregularity
Ministry of Power	₦4.4 Billion	Transfers to project accounts without evidence of expenditure
NBET	₦7.6 Billion	Unauthorised transfers to unnamed sub-accounts
NBET / Egbin Power	₦9.3 Billion	Payments made without supporting documentation
NBET / Consultants	₦420 Million	Payments to ineligible consultants with no proof of work
NBET (General)	₦8.0 Billion	Payments to unnamed beneficiaries

The NBET Files: Unauthorized Transfers and Unnamed Beneficiaries

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the SERAP lawsuit involves the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) PLC. The allegations suggest a culture of “extra-budgetary” spending that borders on the reckless. According to the research available to the naija.newsburrow Network, over ₦1.1 billion was spent without the necessary approvals from the Minister of Finance or the National Assembly. It is as if the agency operated as a law unto itself, spending public money with zero oversight.

The mention of “unnamed beneficiaries” in the ₦8 billion payout category is particularly galling. In a digital age where every kobo can be tracked, the idea that billions can be paid out to “unknown” entities suggests a deep-seated rot. Furthermore, the report claims that ₦7.6 billion was moved into unnamed sub-accounts without authorization. These aren’t just numbers; they are the salaries of teachers, the equipment for hospitals, and the stability of our power grid.

Even the mundane expenditures were allegedly handled with a lack of transparency. The report cites undocumented payments to supermarkets for “staff welfare.” While the amounts for staff welfare are smaller compared to the billions for power projects, they point to a pervasive lack of accountability that starts at the top and trickles down to the smallest administrative transaction. If you can’t account for the grocery bill, how can you account for the national grid?

Mambilla and Zungeru: The Cost of Stalled Dreams

The Mambilla and Zungeru hydropower projects were supposed to be the crown jewels of Nigeria’s renewable energy transition. Instead, they have become symbols of stalled progress and financial leakage. The Auditor-General’s report found that over ₦4.4 billion was transferred to project accounts for Mambilla, Zungeru, and Kashimbilla, yet there is “no evidence” of how this money was actually spent on the ground.

This is where the story gets truly immersive. Imagine a site where thousands should be working, where turbines should be spinning, but instead, there is only silence and overgrown weeds. The missing ₦4.4 billion is not just a line item; it is the reason these projects remain incomplete. Every time the grid collapses, it is because these massive projects—which were meant to provide a buffer—are stuck in a limbo of “missing documentation.”

The naija.newsburrow Press Team notes that these projects are critical for the survival of the Nigerian economy. Without them, we remain tethered to an aging, fragile transmission system. The failure to account for funds meant for these sites is, in essence, an act of economic sabotage. If the money is gone and the projects aren’t finished, where exactly did Nigeria’s future go?

Adelabu’s Defense: A Conflict of Timelines

Minister Adebayo Adelabu has not taken these allegations lying down. On January 4, 2026, his office issued a stern clarification. The Minister’s defense is simple: the alleged ₦128 billion discrepancies belong to the 2022 financial year—a period long before he took office and before the current Tinubu administration was even formed. From his perspective, he is being asked to account for the “sins of the father.”

His media aide, Bolaji Tunji, was quick to point out that SERAP’s letter did not directly accuse the current minister of stealing the money, but rather of failing to account for its whereabouts. This creates a fascinating legal and political tension. Can a current minister be held responsible for the lack of records left by his predecessor? SERAP argues “Yes,” stating that the office is continuous and the responsibility to the public does not reset with every new appointment.

This defense highlights a major flaw in Nigerian governance: the lack of seamless transition and institutional memory. If every new minister can simply point to the past as an excuse for current failures, then accountability becomes a ghost that no one can catch. The naija.newsburrow Network believes this case will set a massive precedent for how “inherited” corruption is handled in the Nigerian courts.

Why Corruption Equals Darkness: The Technical Reality

There is a direct, scientific link between a missing ₦128 billion and your light bulb going out. When funds meant for grid maintenance are diverted, the quality of infrastructure suffers. Instead of high-grade copper wiring, contractors might use cheaper, substandard alternatives. Instead of proactive transformer maintenance, we get reactive “patch-work” that fails under the slightest load pressure.

A simple visualization of the “Corruption-to-Blackout Pipeline” looks something like this:

[THE CORRUPTION PIPELINE]Allocated Funds (₦128bn) ----> [DIVERSION] ----> Reduced Maintenance Budget
|
V
Substandard Equipment <---- [GHOST CONTRACTS] <---- Unqualified Contractors
|
V
Frequent Short-Circuits ----> [GRID INSTABILITY] ----> TOTAL SYSTEM COLLAPSE

When SERAP argues that corruption causes grid collapses, they are talking about the physical degradation of the system. The 2026 blackout wasn’t an act of God; it was an act of neglect. By starving the grid of necessary investment, the system becomes so fragile that even a minor fault at a substation can trigger a nationwide failure. Corruption is the “hidden fault” in every Nigerian circuit breaker.

The Human Cost: Paying for Shadows and Silence

Beyond the courtrooms and the technical jargon lies the human element—the Nigerian citizen. While ₦128 billion is debated, small business owners are watching their profits evaporate into diesel smoke. Students are studying by candlelight, and hospitals are performing surgeries under the dim glow of rechargeable lamps. The naija.newsburrow Network recently spoke to a frozen food vendor in Lagos who lost his entire stock during last week’s collapse. “They take our money through bills, and they take our future through their pockets,” he lamented.

The “shock factor” is that Nigerians are essentially paying twice. We pay through our taxes for projects like Zungeru and Mambilla, and then we pay “crazy bills” to DisCos for power we barely receive. This double-jeopardy is what makes the SERAP lawsuit so resonant. It is a demand for a refund of our collective national sanity. The social media outrage under the hashtag #WhereIsOur128bn shows that the public is no longer content with “technical explanations.

Institutional Failures: A System Designed to Leak?

One must ask: how does ₦128 billion go missing without anyone raising an alarm in real-time? The Auditor-General’s report suggests a systemic failure of internal audits. The naija.newsburrow Press Team analysis indicates that the Ministry of Power and NBET operated with internal control weaknesses that seemed almost intentional. From the lack of procurement advertisements to the use of unnamed beneficiaries, the system appears designed to facilitate leakage rather than prevent it.

The report mentions ₦9.3 billion paid to Egbin Power Plc without documentation. Egbin is a major player, yet such a massive transaction was treated with the casualness of a petty cash voucher. This points to a “culture of impunity” where the rules are seen as suggestions. If the biggest players aren’t following the rules, the entire market becomes a playground for financial malpractice.

The Future of Energy Transparency: Can the Courts Save the Grid?

As we look toward the rest of 2026, the outcome of FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026 will be a bellwether for the Tinubu administration’s commitment to reform. If the court grants the order of mandamus, it will force a level of transparency never before seen in the Nigerian power sector. It could lead to the recovery of funds and, more importantly, the blacklisting of contractors who have held the nation’s light hostage for years.

However, the road to justice is long. As of today, no hearing date has been fixed. The naija.newsburrow Network will remain on the front lines, providing updates as this case progresses. We are moving into an era where “I don’t know” is no longer an acceptable answer from a public official. The grid may be down, but the eyes of the public are wide open.

What do you think? Is this lawsuit the beginning of the end for power sector corruption, or just another legal merry-go-round? We want to hear from you. Join the conversation on our social media platforms and let your voice be heard. The darkness only wins when we stay silent.

For more deep dives into the policies and politics shaping Nigeria, stay tuned to naija.newsburrow.com.

As the legal battle over the missing ₦128 billion intensifies, the harsh reality of Nigeria’s fragile power infrastructure remains a daily burden for households and businesses alike. The recurring national grid collapses and the systemic failures highlighted in the SERAP lawsuit underscore a critical truth: relying solely on the centralized energy system is an increasingly risky gamble. For many, the quest for accountability in the courtroom must be matched by a practical quest for energy independence at home.

The persistent darkness has fueled a massive shift toward decentralized energy solutions across the country. Nigerians are no longer waiting for the next grid restoration; they are taking control of their own power supply to protect their productivity and comfort. Investing in reliable alternative energy has moved from being a luxury to a strategic necessity for surviving the current governance and infrastructure crisis.

To stay ahead of these developments and receive more exclusive insights into Nigeria’s energy sector, we invite you to join the conversation in the comments below and subscribe to the naija.newsburrow newsletter. Take the first step toward securing your energy future by exploring the high-performance power solutions curated below, designed to keep your lights on even when the national grid fails.

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Nigeria Power Sector Corruption, SERAP Lawsuit Adelabu, Missing 128 Billion Naira, NBET Audit Scandal, Nigeria Grid Collapse