By Eshioromeh Sebastian
The Auditor General for the Federation has raised alarm over N33.75 billion in cash transfers disbursed to over 3.29 million households, warning that the absence of proper documentation has made it impossible to confirm whether the funds reached original beneficiaries.
The audit, contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses across Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, reviewed financial activities at the National Cash Transfer Office in Abuja for the 2023 fiscal year.
According to the report, electronic transfers totalling N33.751 billion were made to beneficiaries drawn from the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states. However, auditors said the payment vouchers provided for scrutiny lacked complete beneficiary details.
The report noted that the Remita statement, which would have allowed auditors to cross-check actual recipients against those listed on the government’s registers, was never produced.
“This hindered the authentication of the payments and made it difficult to ascertain whether the beneficiaries who received the funds were genuine,” the audit stated.
The report further alleged that officials of the National Cash Transfer Office actively frustrated audit efforts. “All efforts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were obstructed and denied by NTCO accounts staff, thereby frustrating the audit process,” it said.
The Auditor-General identified the transaction as carrying significant risks, including possible loss of public funds and payments to ineligible or fictitious persons.
The audit recommended that the National Programme Manager appear before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the funds and provide evidence of actual disbursement. Should the funds remain unaccounted for, the report called for their recovery and remittance to the Treasury.
Management of the National Cash Transfer Office, the report added, failed to respond to the audit query.
Beyond the N33.75 billion transfers, the report uncovered widespread financial control weaknesses within the agency. Another query revealed that N36.744 billion was disbursed through 215 vouchers in December 2023 without undergoing mandatory pre-payment checks.
“None of the paid vouchers were pre-audited or checked by the Internal Audit as required by extant regulations,” the report stated, adding that internal auditors only conducted post-payment reviews, exposing funds to potential misapplication.
In a separate finding, 101 payments worth N4.616 billion were made from the agency’s cash book without corresponding vouchers being presented for audit examination.
The auditors also flagged N350.18 million disbursed to state coordinators that could not be substantiated, as supporting documents—including beneficiary lists, signed attendance registers, photographs of activities, and enrolment reports—were not attached to the vouchers.
Additionally, N393.71 million returned to the Treasury by nine State Cash Transfer Units due to insecurity and other disruptions could not be confirmed, as the agency failed to provide proof that the funds were actually credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Other audit concerns included N280.42 million paid as mobilisation fees to payment service providers without required advance payment guarantees, as well as no evidence that due process was followed in the selection of the vendors.
The audit also found that store items worth N89.51 million purchased by the office were not recorded in its store ledger, which had reportedly not been updated since 2020.
The report further disclosed that N17.42 million spent on diesel was given out as cash advances to staff rather than subjected to proper contract awards, despite exceeding the N200,000 procurement threshold. The auditors estimated that this procurement method cost the government N2.18 million in foregone Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax revenue.
For all eight audit queries raised, management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to provide any response, the report noted.
The development comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Nigeria’s social investment programmes, which have been plagued by corruption allegations. In December 2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission uncovered an alleged N37.1 billion fraud within the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation under former Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
Her successor, Dr Betta Edu, was suspended in January 2024 after authorising the transfer of N585 million into a private account for payment to vulnerable groups—a move the Accountant-General rejected as a violation of financial regulations.
The Federal Government has since partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Identity Management Commission to enforce mandatory Bank Verification Number and National Identification Number registration for beneficiaries in a bid to tighten controls.
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