Auditor-General Flags N33.75bn Cash Transfers

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Nigeria’s Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, has raised concerns over N33.75bn in cash transfers made to more than 3.29 million households, saying the Federal Government could not provide sufficient documentation to establish that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.

The finding was contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.

The audit examined transactions carried out by the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) in Abuja during the 2023 financial year. The office is responsible for administering cash assistance to poor and vulnerable households under the Federal Government’s social protection programme.

Auditors unable to verify beneficiaries

According to the audit report, electronic transfers amounting to N33.751bn were made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries selected from the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states in 2023.

However, auditors said the payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary details.

They also said the Remita statement needed to reconcile the people who received the payments with names contained in the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not made available for examination.

The absence of the records, according to the report, prevented auditors from determining whether the individuals who received the funds were genuine beneficiaries.

The audit further stated that attempts to obtain access to the relevant Remita records were unsuccessful, with accounts staff at the National Cash Transfer Office reportedly denying auditors access.

Auditor-General demands explanation

The Auditor-General identified the possibility of public funds being lost or payments being made to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries as risks arising from the transactions.

The report therefore recommended that the National Programme Manager appear before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the N33.75bn and provide evidence that the intended beneficiaries received the funds.

It further recommended that any amount that could not be satisfactorily accounted for should be recovered and returned to the Treasury.

The report also noted that the management of the National Cash Transfer Office did not respond to the audit query.

Other billions questioned

The audit uncovered other financial-control concerns at the cash transfer office.

Auditors questioned N36.744bn in payments covered by 215 vouchers in December 2023, saying the transactions were processed without the required prepayment audit or internal audit checks.

Instead, the Internal Audit Unit conducted checks after the payments had already been made.

The auditors warned that the procedure created risks of misapplication or diversion of public funds and recommended that the amount be accounted for before the National Assembly.

Another N4.616bn involving 101 payments was also queried because the relevant paid vouchers were not presented for audit examination.

The report further identified N350.18m that could not be accounted for from funds released to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries.

Concerns over returned funds

The audit also raised questions about N393.71m reportedly returned by nine State Cash Transfer Units after planned enrolment exercises could not be conducted.

The NCTO attributed the inability to conduct some of the exercises to insecurity, disasters and other factors.

However, auditors said the agency failed to provide documentation proving that the returned money had been credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

A further N280.42m mobilisation payment to payment service providers was questioned because it was reportedly made without an Advance Payment Guarantee.

The auditors also raised concerns about the procurement process used to engage the service providers.

What happens next?

The Auditor-General’s recommendations place the responsibility on the National Cash Transfer Office to provide documentation capable of accounting for the questioned expenditures.

The findings do not by themselves establish that the N33.75bn was stolen or that fictitious beneficiaries definitely received the money. Rather, the audit found that the available records were insufficient for auditors to authenticate the payments.

The National Cash Transfer Office’s official programme describes the cash-transfer initiative as a social assistance scheme targeted at poor and vulnerable Nigerians, with monitoring and audit mechanisms intended to promote accountability.

The latest audit findings could therefore intensify scrutiny of how billions of naira allocated to social intervention programmes are disbursed, documented and monitored.

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