Auditor-General Queries ₦33.75bn Cash Transfers to 3.29m Nigerian Households

Nigeria’s Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, has raised questions over the disbursement of ₦33.75 billion to more than 3.29 million households under the Federal Government’s National Cash Transfer Programme in 2023, saying auditors could not obtain sufficient evidence to establish that the funds reached genuine beneficiaries.

The concerns were contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 annual report on non-compliance and internal control weaknesses.

According to the report, the funds were electronically transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states through the National Cash Transfer Office.

However, auditors said the payment vouchers presented for examination did not contain complete beneficiary information required to verify the recipients.

They also said the office failed to provide the relevant Remita statements that could have been used to reconcile the beneficiaries who received the payments with names contained in the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register.

The auditors said repeated attempts to obtain the statements were unsuccessful, alleging that accounts staff obstructed access to the records.

The development, according to the report, created a significant risk that public funds could have been paid to ineligible, fictitious or otherwise unverified beneficiaries.

The Auditor-General recommended that the National Programme Manager appear before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the ₦33.75 billion and provide evidence that the listed beneficiaries actually received the funds.

Where the funds cannot be properly accounted for, the report recommended their recovery and return to the Treasury.

More billions queried

The audit also uncovered several other financial irregularities involving the National Cash Transfer Office.

Auditors queried ₦36.74 billion in payments made without the required pre-payment audit. According to the report, 215 payment vouchers were processed without internal audit checks, raising concerns over the possibility of misuse or diversion of funds.

Another ₦4.62 billion, involving 101 payments, was queried after the office failed to provide the relevant payment vouchers for examination.

Auditors also flagged ₦350.18 million reportedly disbursed to state coordinators for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries.

Although documents covering ₦2.74 billion were made available, the report said supporting records for the remaining ₦350.18 million were not presented.

The audit further questioned ₦393.71 million in unused enrolment funds reportedly returned by nine states, saying the office failed to provide sufficient evidence that the money was subsequently credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Another ₦280.42 million advance payment to payment service providers was flagged because it was made without an Advance Payment Guarantee and without adequate evidence that due process was followed in selecting the providers.

The auditors also identified ₦89.51 million worth of store items that were not recorded in the office’s store ledger.

Similarly, ₦17.42 million spent on diesel was questioned because the money was reportedly given to staff as cash advances instead of being processed through the prescribed procurement procedure.

The Auditor-General warned that the weaknesses exposed public funds to risks of misapplication, diversion and payments for unverified goods, services or beneficiaries.

The report further stated that management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to respond to all eight audit queries raised by the auditors.

The findings come amid continued scrutiny of Nigeria’s social intervention programmes, including cash-transfer schemes designed to support poor and vulnerable households and programmes backed by international development financing.